Phony Matrimony
by SailorMoonatic28
Summary: When their would-be fiances cause a misunderstanding Scrooge McDuck and Magica DeSpell find themselves engaged and dealing with her overbearing, overly critical, and all around chaotic family while learning more about each other. However, while Scrooge and Magica deal with wedding planning Flintheart Glomgold takes advantage of Rosolio and Brigitta's jealousy to go after Scrooge.
1. Engaged?

So I just have a couple of quick notes here before the story starts: First of all I want to thank you for reading my work and I hope you enjoy it!

Next, I just want to explain a couple of things real quickly:

First of all; I am primarily familiar with these characters from the Ducktales cartoons but I did look up the comics as much as I could without buying any (I just can't afford to splurge on a bunch of comics right now because of bills!) so while I strive to have the characters remain as in-character as possible I apologize if I failed with the comic exclusive characters, I just kind of ran with the impressions I got of them from what little I could find.

Also, I started this after having only watched the first 9 episodes of the reboot so consider this story to be taking place in a slightly different continuity. (I will say no more so as not to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen the first season finale of the reboot.)

Then there's Hexa, Castandra and Winnicent. These three are my own creations to add to the story just for fun and are not cannon at all. I just got inspired while listening to 'I put a spell on you' from the movie Hocus Pocus and reading Serena Valentino's Disney villain book series and thought it would be fun if Magica had sisters. 'Hexa' is obviously a somewhat generic name but 'Castandra', a fusion of 'Cast' and 'Cassandra' I thought was a fun name and well the name 'Winnicent' is simply a tribute to two of Disney's most infamous witches: Winnifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus and Maleficent of course!

And the joke with the ring is a reference to the game 'Curse of Monkey Island' which is one of my favorite PC games.

(Also, for those who don't know, Rosolio calls Scrooge a 'Jerk' a 'Creep' and a 'Homewrecker' in Italian. I thought it fitting for him to use some Italian in his dialogue since he is Italian after all and no, I don't know Italian, just google translate haha!)

Well I'm done rambling now so on with the story! Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh, Scrooge dearest!" Scrooge McDuck looked up from his desk, paperwork, and newest treasure map to see his longtime friend and would-be girlfriend Brigitta MacBridge rushing in, her heart-shaped blonde hairdo, blue dress and gold earrings swaying a bit with her rapid movement. "Hello Brigitta, what brings you here today?" He asked, secretly hoping her visit would be business oriented and brief which; unfortunately, was not the case.

"I came here to see you of course!... I also wanted to get your opinion on this investment I'm considering making." Scrooge sighed and took the papers the blonde duckess held out to him. He read the papers over and handed them back. "This investment is frivolous and won't benefit you at all." He said dismissively. "Now if you don't mind I-" "Oh, I knew I could rely on you for good advice Lammiekins!" Brigitta swooned. "Brigitta I _really_ need to get back to work so unless there's something else you need these tax forms won't do themselves." Scrooge slipped the map into a drawer, not wanting her to see it and get any ideas, and attempted to return to his work but Brigitta interrupted him again.

"Well now that you mention it there was something else I wanted to talk to you about snookums." She said, sliding a catalog on top of Scrooge's papers. "Which do you think would look the best on me? My personal favorites are numbers 5 and 2."

Scrooge choked on air as he saw what sort of catalog she had been looking at: A wedding dress catalog! "Uh, I-I-I-I" He sputtered as he tried to catch his breath and find words to carefully handle this situation. "Brigitta… _please_ tell me you haven't bought one of these already." He finally said, subtly pushing the catalog towards the trash can beside the desk.

"Oh, not yet! We have to set a date first and of course there's the actual proposal and the ring…" She spun around, Scrooge narrowly avoiding being hit by her long gold necklace as it whipped around with her movement, and began to gush about what sort of romantic proposal he should make while he cringed in his chair.

It wasn't that Scrooge didn't like Brigitta but she was just so obsessive and was practically his own personal stalker it him worried at times that she may just be after him for his fortune and at other times that if he actually gave in to her craziness that her 'affections' might just be the death of him! He had made up his mind that he was never going to marry her and sometimes he wondered if it was really worth it to stay friends with her, as much as she could accept that, but in the end; he couldn't ignore his sense of chivalry and his morals and helped Brigitta when she needed it and gladly accepted her assistance from time to time when necessary. After all, just because he didn't want to marry her didn't mean he wished harm on her.

At this very moment however, he felt it ENTIRELY necessary to attempt to sneak out of his office while she danced about in her daydreams of a wedding that would never be more than a fantasy. Scrooge was almost across the threshold of his office and into the hallway when Brigitta noticed him. "Where are you running off to sweetheart?" She inquired as she grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back into the office. "I-I… I have to go um… The boys! I have plans with my nephews today and I'm going to be late if I don't-" "Oh aren't you such a devoted family man!" Brigitta interrupted. "You know, I've always admired that about you… I bet you'd be a great father!" Scrooge swallowed hard at her clear insinuation of wanting a family with him and desperately tried to think of a way to escape his would-be wooer.

After listening to Brigitta go on and on for several minutes about their 'eventual' marriage Scrooge decided that he really needed to shut her up because he did actually have an appointment he was now late for because of her antics.

"Look Brigitta, I gotta say it: I'm not gonna marry you! How long are you going to continue this ridiculous chase! What if I married someone else, would you still keep up this insanity?" Brigitta stopped talking and loosened her grip on Scrooge's arm, slowly releasing it and looking him the eye, a devastated expression inching its way across her face.

"M-married to someone else?" She stuttered. "W-who? Who is this _homewrecker_ you're going to marry?" The question began sadly but ended with a hint of jealousy, specifically with the 'homewrecker' part. "That's not what I said-" Brigitta had already made up her mind and cut him off after taking a deep breath to compose herself. "No, It's fine. I should be happy for you and your bride to-be. I would love to meet her and be invited to the wedding of course!" Brigitta forced herself to cheer up and proceeded to bombard Scrooge with questions about his 'impending' nuptials.

He answered as best he could on the spot; trying to be vague about the non-existent bride and any other details he could. Brigitta was not satisfied. "If you won't tell me anything maybe I'll just have to call Mrs. Beakley or Donald's girlfriend Daisy and see if one of them will tell me who she is. I just have to know _who_ stole my Scrooge away from me!" She said dramatically, then quickly left before Scrooge could stop her. He slumped down into his chair, rubbed his temples and took several deep breaths to calm himself before calling to his secretary.

"Ms. Quackfaster; clear my schedule… I have a _big_ problem today…"

On Mt. Vesuvius Magica DeSpell wasn't having much better a day than Scrooge was. Her would-be fiancé Rosolio, a dim-witted Goose and self-proclaimed expert sorcerer, had come to once again try to woo her and as always, was failing miserably.

"Go away, you goony gander!" Magica tossed the bouquet of petunias Rosolio had brought her into the mouth of Mt. Vesuvius. "But Magica, il mio amore! We are to be married! This is no way to treat your fiancé!" Rosolio cried as he tried to follow Magica into her hut. "I don't remember agreeing to any such arrangement!" She snapped, trying to slam the door in his face.

"Magi-poo!" Rosolio whined, sticking his foot in the doorway to stop her from closing the door. "Give me one good reason why you won't marry me! Just one!" He pleaded. Magica huffed in exasperation and tried even harder to slam the door, even if she did so on his stupid foot. "How about I just don't want to! Why can't that be good enough for you?"

Rosolio kept on holding the door and finally used a spell to keep her from slamming it and to save his foot, which was surely going to be crushed if he didn't. "Presto disappearo!" And with those words the door vanished. Magica groaned.

"Why did you do that to my door you goon!" "So you would stop trying to shut me out il mio amore, and so you wouldn't break my poor foot!" "I ought to break your _head_! But I think it's already broken!" Magica growled. "Ah, Magi-poo, you're so beautiful when you're angry!" Rosolio swooned. "Argh! GET OUT!" Magica tried to force him out of her hut but he just countered her spells and she didn't have the strength necessary to physically push the overweight goose out of her home. "I won't leave you il mio amore unless I'm given good reason to!" Magica gagged. "Stop calling me that, I'm going to be sick." "Never! I will always say it because it is true; you are il mio amore Magi-poo!"

Magica groaned again; she wondered what it would take to get through Rosolio's thick skull that she didn't want him and would prefer to be left alone. Then what she thought was a brilliant idea came to her mind and in her usual fashion she didn't think it through before the words came out of her mouth.

"I won't marry you because I'm going to marry someone else! Is that good enough to get rid of you?" Rosolio's jaw dropped and he stood before her in complete and silent shock for so long that Magica actually wondered if his brain had shut down.

When Rosolio finally reacted, it wasn't pleasant. His face grew red with rage and he began fuming about how he would turn the no-good fiancée stealing jerk into a toad or a fly or an amoeba until Magica clocked him on the head with her wand."You will do no such thing you goon! You want me to be happy, yes? Then you will fly away and leave me be!" Rosolio looked at her sadly while rubbing his head. "Does your family know about this Magi-poo il mio amore?" "I said to stop calling me that! I just told you I'm marrying another so stop it!"He shook his head. "Never! Even if you're in the arms of another you'll always be Magi-poo il mio amore!" Magica sighed. "Whatever; just go away now, I am very busy planning a wedding." She tried to usher Rosolio out so she could resume plotting to get Scrooge's dime but he wouldn't budge."You didn't answer my question, you haven't told your family have you il mio amore?" "Why would I? They'd just cause problems and make trouble. Besides I-I mean-we just want a uh, small and quick wedding, no big fuss."

Magica realized in that moment that she was going to regret trying to trick Rosolio into thinking she was engaged to someone else; he wasn't going to just leave and never come back, it could never be that easy. "Nonsense; I will go tell your family and then we shall see if this cretino will be a suitable husband for you!" "No! Rosolio don't you… dare." Before she could get the last word out, he was gone with a wave of his wand.

"Oh no!" Magica wailed, "That goony gander is trying to ruin my life!" Magica decided the best thing she could do was to leave and figure something out before her family showed up. She gathered a few things and her brother Poe and used a travel spell to leave quickly.

Scrooge entered his mansion and called for Mrs. Beakley who came immediately to attend to her employer.

"Yes Mr. McDuck? Why do you sound so agitated?" "Have you heard from Brigitta MacBridge today?" "No sir, why do you ask?" "Because she thinks I'm getting married!" Mrs. Beakley gave him a confused look. "Doesn't she always think you're getting married to her?" Scrooge shook his head. "No, Mrs. Beakley not to her, to someone else. She's got it in her head I'm marrying someone else!" "Oh my!" "Mrs. Beakley I'm in trouble and I don't what to do to get out of it! Brigitta said she'd talk to you or Daisy to find out who my non-existent bride is!"

Mrs. Beakley suppressed a chuckle. "I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you Mr. McDuck. But I will call Daisy and tell her the situation." Scrooge was a little relieved at that. "Thank you Mrs. Beakley. Now to figure out how I'm gonna fix this mess." He expressed his gratitude to his housekeeper and proceeded to go to his home office to try and think up a plan.

Magica needed think of a good plan to deal with her family; because they were all witches they would know if she simply conjured up a phony fiancé or if she enchanted someone into being her phony fiancé with a love spell so that meant that she had to either tell the truth and suffer the consequences or find someone who would willingly help her out. Most people she knew wouldn't do it without wanting something in return and she knew that would just be going from one problem to another so what else could she do?

Ultimately, she decided that sticking to her usual routines might be a good way to calm herself down and think of something so there she was, at her small manor in Duckburg, gathering her niece Lena to make yet another attempt to steal Scrooge's number one dime and work on Lena's witch training. The young pink-haired duck greeted her Aunt happily.

"Welcome back Aunt Magica!" Lena noticed her aunt's sour and concerned expression. "What's wrong?" "Rosolio. He thinks I am engaged and is going to bring the family to meet a fiancé that doesn't exist!" She explained. "Oh man, that guy is so stupid! I really _don't_ want to see any of them." "I agree, but for now we are going to try for Scrooge's dime again."

Lena figured her aunt needed a distraction and maybe if nobody was home when the family arrived they'd just leave and the problem would resolve itself. "Okay, let's go!"

"I'll stay here since I won't be of any help but you two be careful okay?" Poe said, leaving his spot on Magica's shoulder to sit on the back of a nearby chair. Lena walked over and stroked the raven lovingly. "We will dad. Just don't answer the door if anybody knocks okay?" Poe chuckled. "How can I? I don't have any fingers." Lena chuckled then joined her aunt on her broom and the two witches flew off to McDuck's money bin.

Scrooge was pacing back and forth in his home office, trying desperately to think of a solution to his problem with Brigitta. He had no idea where Goldie was at the moment as the last he'd heard from her she was off on some new adventure of her own and it wouldn't work to try and pass Mrs. Beakley or Ms. Quackfaster off as his fake fiancé because Brigitta would know better and to be honest he didn't really know Ms. Quackfaster that well and he didn't think Mrs. Beakley would be able to keep herself from laughing at the whole situation.

Of course, he could always try telling Brigitta the truth but either she wouldn't listen or she'd just interpret his words in her own way again and either assume he was planning their wedding or become so infuriated with him she'd never speak to him again.

Scrooge sighed and stopped in front of the window that offered a view of his money bin and saw a familiar form flying toward it. "Argh, not today! I don't have time for this!" He fumed as he saw Magica heading toward his money bin.

Scrooge raced out to the money bin and got to it just as Magica and Lena were about to try opening it with a spell. "Stop right there Magica! I really do not have time for your antics today so I would greatly appreciate it if you would just go away!" Magica scoffed, jumping off her broom and crossing her arms. "I have problems too but here I am and your dime will help fix some of them!" Scrooge sighed in defeat. "You can't just make this easy, can you?"

"Uh, Aunt Magica…" Lena jumped off the broom and tugged at the red cuffed sleeve of her aunt's black dress. "What! Ohhh NO!" Magica gasped in apparent horror and grabbed Lena by the hand. "Quick, maybe if we get out of here now we can still-"

"Cretino! Ladro! Distruttore domestico!" "Huh? What?" Scrooge turned to look behind him and was completely confused by the overweight, red-faced, Italian goose whose red frock coat and top hat looked a bit too small, yelling at him and calling him a… homewrecker? "So! _This_ is the man who's stolen you from me Magi-poo?" "WHAT?" Scrooge followed the goose's gaze and looked at Magica in total confusion. "Magica… who is this looney and just what in blazes is he talking about?" Just as Magica was about to answer, another voice spoke.

"My beautiful little bambina is _finally_ getting married!" Magica was wrapped in a crushing hug by another witch wearing a green dress and several, probably magical, pendants. She had long crazy blonde hair and spectacles sat upon the base of her beak.

"Ugh, Granny… let… go!" Magica squirmed around until finally breaking free of her grandmother's grip.

"Rosolio, you great buffoon! What have you done!" Magica screeched at the dim goose. "I brought your family to meet your fiancé. Why would you choose this geezer over me?"

" _WHAT_?!" Scrooge was now in a panic, he certainly didn't remember getting engaged to Magica yet somehow these loons believed they were getting married! What did Magica tell them and, for the love of his number one dime, _why_? "Magica I demand an explanation- mmph!" "Uh, if you don't mind we need to talk, ALONE!" Magica grabbed Scrooge by the beak, tossed one of her foof bombs and with a few quick words, had whisked herself, Scrooge, and Lena back to her Duckburg manor.

"Oh, what do I do? What _can_ I do?" Magica lamented, pacing back and forth in the entryway. "For starters, you can tell me what's going on here!" Scrooge barked, crossing his arms and glaring. "Who were those people and WHY do they think you and I are getting married? What did you tell them?" "Nothing! Well, nothing about _you_. I told Rosolio that I was engaged to make him go away and instead he tells my family; who now think I'm marrying YOU!" She fumed at him.

"Oh, great. As if I don't have enough marital messes!" Scrooge groaned. "Rosolio's so stupid." Lena shook her head with a sigh.

"Wait," Poe flew up and sat on Scrooge's shoulder. "What did you mean about already having a marital mess? Don't tell me you're actually getting married to somebody now!" "Of course not, you looney! She's a sweet girl but I wouldn't marry her even if it would double my fortune!" He swatted at the duck turned raven.

"What? You're already engaged? Since when?" Magica asked, drawn out of her lamentations by the conversation and her curiosity and a tiny hint of a feeling that could possibly be disappointment. "NO! Why Brigitta got that ridiculous notion in her head that I am engaged to someone else I do not know but I'm not marrying ANYBODY!" Now Scrooge was fuming.

"So, it sounds like you two are in the same boat… you both need a phony fiancé." Poe said thoughtfully. "No, we're not. Did you not hear what I said? I'M NOT MARRYING ANYBODY! And I'm certainly not gonna lie about it either!"

"Then what are you going to do?" Magica asked the angry Scot. "I-I… I don't know yet, but I'll think of something!" He glared at Magica. "However," He added, "I do not want to get caught up in _your_ problems witch!" Magica chuckled a bit. "That's all well and fine Scroogie but, it looks like you already are!"

She stopped laughing at looked at him with a more serious expression. "Don't blame me though, it's not my fault my relatives are such nuisances." She said flatly before slumping down in a chair. "What am I gonna do Poe? Any ideas?" "Well…" Poe looked between the witch and the miser. "I'd say just go with it for now." "WHAT!?" Magica and Scrooge yelped in unison.

"Dad's right; Just go with it and later on you can stage a break-up or something." Lena agreed with her father's suggestion. "Are you insane?" Scrooge snapped. "There is _no way_ I'm doing any such thing!" "Me either!" Magica agreed.

Never mind that Magica actually found the idea amusing and intriguing in it's own way; there was simply no way she would pretend to be engaged to Scrooge McDuck; after all, he would certainly never go for such a crazy plan right?

"Okay, well then you can tell Granny and Rosolio the truth and I'll just hide in here somewhere until the fireworks are over." Poe flew over to a nearby closet and perched on the knob of the open door. "Again, I agree with dad; I don't wanna see what they'll do if they hear the truth." Lena added.

"Well I can tell Brigitta the truth and I'm sure she'll understand." Scrooge grinned confidently until Magica spoke. "Ha! She might understand, or she might team up with Glomgold to steal your fortune and break your heart for breaking hers!" Scrooge knew Magica was right… there really was no telling how Brigitta would react, even if she was the one who started this mess.

Scrooge thought about his limited options. he truly never expected to find himself in such a situation and if not for the fact that talking to Brigitta could be at times like talking over a bad phone connection, only every other word gets heard. Part of him found the idea of pretending to be engaged to Magica without it having to do with his dime rather interesting; the other part reminded him that this time he would be dealing with her family and that was the primary concern, he didn't want them to get angry and take anything out on his family.

"Fine." Scrooge muttered after thinking it over. "What?" Magica looked at him, totally dumbfounded. "I'll go along with this silly charade until we figure out how to fix this mess."

Magica couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Are you serious?" Scrooge nodded. "On one condition." He stated firmly. Magica gulped nervously and asked, "What?" "You stop chasing after my number one dime!" Magica sighed, of course McDuck would try to find a way to get something out of this mess. "For a year. I won't go after your dime for a year. How's that?" She asked. "I mean permanently Magica!" "A year is the most I will agree to!" The two stared each other down for several minutes.

Finally, after deciding he likely wouldn't get her to agree to anything else, Scrooge nodded and held out his hand. "Agreed." Magica took his hand and they shook on it. "Now then; _sweetheart_ ," Scrooge cringed with his use of the normally affectionate term. "Can we go get your crazy family away from my money bin?"

The 'happy' couple returned to where they had left Rosolio and Granny De Spell while Lena and Poe went to into inform Scrooge's nephews and servants of the situation.

"Why did you run off like that Magi-poo?" Rosolio held himself back from trying to hug Magica when he saw her arm and arm with Scrooge. Magica sighed in annoyance.

"I apologize for my behavior earlier," Scrooge started, surprisingly calm and convincing in his sincerity. "Magica didn't tell me her family was coming and I was caught off guard." "Ooh, such a gentleman. Apology accepted bambino." Granny DeSpell said, circling Scrooge and looking over him closely.

"So, I guess you decided this was easier than stealing his dime huh? Well he's not a sorcerer but I suppose he'll do." "Granny!" Magica fumed. "Don't circle him like some kind of vulture! And since when do I care for your approval of anything!" Granny DeSpell simply ignored Magica and continued talking. "The girls should be here soon, they're just dying to see who you're marrying!"

Magica's face paled. "Y-you don't mean my sisters are coming here? Not that! Anything but that!" "Sisters?" Scrooge questioned, looking uneasy since Magica's reaction wasn't very reassuring.

"They are like actual vultures! Intolerable, awful, horrendous witches!" Magica's expression grew more fearful with each descriptor. "Yes, I'm so proud of all my bambinas!" Granny DeSpell said with a big grin. "Though they may be skilled in witchery, none of them compare to you in beauty Magi-poo!" Rosolio swooned. Magica just groaned.

"Look, uh, Scroogie and I have a lot to discuss and plan for the wedding so if you don't mind just leaving now-" "Nonsense dearie!" Granny cut her off. "Your sisters and I want to help you plan and of course we're all going to be in attendance!" Magica's eyes widened in horror. "And where exactly will you be staying, might I ask?" Scrooge asked nervously. Granny looked at Scrooge's mansion, then at Scrooge. "You wouldn't mind terribly, would you, Grandson-in-law-to-be?" She smiled sweetly.

Inside the McDuck Mansion Lena and Poe explained the situation to Webbigail, who told everyone else.

"Ewwww! Poor Uncle Scrooge!" Huey, Dewey and Louie cringed at the thought. "How did this happen?" Donald asked. "Exactly what I'd like to know!" Mrs. Beakley leered down at Lena suspiciously. "Precisely;" Duckworth added. "How do we know that she isn't simply enacting some elaborate scheme?" "Lena's not lying! I believe her!" Webby defended her friend. "Thanks, Webbs." "Uh, we're about to find out because here comes Mr. McDee and his bride-to-be!" Launchpad pointed out the window to the couple walking toward the mansion entrance, arguing the whole way as they entered.

"There's no way I'm gonna have a bunch of freeloaders staying in my mansion; especially not one who calls me a 'Homewrecker'!" Scrooge fumed. "It's not my fault! Don't blame me for my family's stupidity and annoyingness!" Magica spat back.

"Well I guess Lena's right; they even _sound_ like a real married couple!" Launchpad laughed until they both shot him a deathly glare. "SHUT UP!" They both spat at the now cowering Launchpad.

Scrooge returned his glare to Magica. "This stupid charade is gonna put my family in danger now! Imagine if your family finds out you lied; I'd have a house full of very angry witches!" "I…I, I'm sorry! But I can't do anything about it! My family only listens to what they want to hear from me… I could tell them to leave until I'm blue in the face but they won't listen." Magica now seemed to calm down a little and Scrooge just stared silently for a moment, shocked that the witch had actually apologized to him.

"Wow! This place is HUGE!" A small voice exclaimed. "So, you decided to give up on the dime huh? I'm not surprised little sister!" Another voice cackled maniacally. "I don't think she _truly_ gave up on his dime… she just decided to take the easy way because she's so soft!" Another added to the cackling. "At least she's surely got a BIG rock on her finger for her trouble!" A fourth sighed enviously. Scrooge and family turned around to see three witches and a little witch standing in Scrooge's foyer.

They all wore dresses similar to Magica's but with a few minor differences: The tallest wore minimal make-up, a long black dress with red cuffs and a high, ruffled collar and had her black hair tied in a neat bun atop her head.

The middle one had golden hair pinned up on one side with a cascade of curls spilling down the other. Her make-up was heavy and her dress, the same length as Magica's with the same red cuffs, sported a plunging neck line that was borderline inappropriate.

The third and shorter of the three had her black hair tied in braids on either side of her head and her dress was almost identical to Magica's except with a more modest neckline. The little girl gawking at the mansion sported black pigtails and a little black dress with a red collar, red cuffs on the sleeves and red buttons on the front.

"Hexa, Castandra, Winnicent and little Minima… Oh great!" Magica groaned.

"Don't look so excited dear sister." Hexa, the tallest one said dryly. "I mean after all, we only came here to support you on your big day!" Castandra added, tossing some of her blonde curls. "Whoopee." Magica waved her left hand with more sarcasm than enthusiasm.

Castandra gasped and grabbed her hand. "Sister dear WHERE is your ring! Every bride-to-be needs a HUGE rock on her finger!" "I bet the skinflint wouldn't put out for a ring at all, let alone some big diamond." Winnicent scoffed. "True," Hexa said with a shrug. "Everyone knows Scrooge McDuck is a selfish old miser so, the very IDEA that he would marry is preposterous enough; there's no way he would get her a ring."

Magica jerked away from her sister's grip. "Now see here! I uh… I…" Magica tried to think of something to say to argue with them but they did have a point, Scrooge wouldn't get her a ring, even to pretend, and she couldn't just conjure one in front of her sisters either.

"It's being polished by my personal jeweler right now. Nothing but the best for my, um, darling Magica." Scrooge suddenly explained. Magica and his family just tried their best to play along. "Right! Scroogie is very good to me!" She moved away from her sisters and took Scrooge by the arm, almost like she was preparing to use him as a shield.

"Well then, I simply can't wait to see it Magica dear!" Castandra had a far off and amorous look in her eyes. Hexa rolled her eyes. "We've had a long trip so if you wouldn't mind showing us where we'll be staying we'd like to freshen up a bit." "Of course." Scrooge said politely. "It's my great pleasure to put up my dear Magica's family here in my mansion." He inwardly cringed at his own words.

"Uh, Mrs. Beakley would you kindly go and see to the guest rooms, make sure everything is prepared for our guests." Mrs. Beakley gulped and nodded at her employer. "Y-yes Mr. McDuck, right away!" She quickly made her way up the stairs, thankful for an excuse to get away from the witchy sisters but nervous about having them staying in the mansion.

Scrooge had everyone go to the dinning room where he had Duckworth serve tea and biscuits as appetizers while lunch was prepared.

"I do apologize for the wait, this was so short notice I didn't have time prepare your rooms in advance." Scrooge tried his best to be polite to the group of witches at his table, now including Granny DeSpell and Rosolio. "Aren't you so sweet! It's quite all right bambino, we did come unexpectedly and unannounced." Granny said between sips of tea.

"No good fiancée stealing cretino…" Rosolio muttered while munching on some of the biscuits. Magica, who sat between him and Scrooge, kicked him in the shin under the table. "Ow!" "Are you okay Rosolio?" Minima asked, looking at him from across the table. "She- hmmph!" Magica shoved a biscuit in his mouth before he could finish his response. "Shut your beak you buffoon." "So, tell me Magica; why did you choose the miserly geezer over the fully trained sorcerer?" Hexa asked "I… well... Because Rosolio is such a buffoon and Scrooge is…uh, well…" Magica struggled to find something to say about Scrooge.

"Craw! Stop it you brat!" The commotion gave Magica the needed reprieve from the previous topic.

"Minima! Leave your uncle Poe alone this instant!" She barked at her niece who had Poe by the tail feathers. "Aw, we were just gonna play Auntie!" Minima whined. "Leave the girl alone Magica!" Winnicent snapped. "My precious Minima hasn't done anything wrong, she just wants to play with the nice raven." She stroked her daughter's hair lovingly. "I know how she wants to play and I don't wanna! Nevermore!" Poe crowed as he tried to escape Minima's grip. "But uncle… you'd look so cute in dress, or tied up in a death trap!" she smiled at the raven innocently.

"Let my dad go, you pint-sized pain in the neck!" Lena snapped, whacking Minima on the head, causing her to let go of Poe; who immediately flew to the safety of Magica's shoulder. "Ma-ma! Lena hit me!" Minima wailed. "Lena! You apologize to Minima right now!" Winnicent demanded. "I'm _really_ sorry Minima." Lena rolled her eyes as she made the half-hearted apology.

"You okay Poe?" Magica whispered. He nodded. "Yeah, may be missing a tail feather though."

"It's okay sweetie; Lena is just jealous that you're already a stronger witch than her." Winnicent soothed. "Yeah right." Lena muttered under her breath.

"Well it isn't Minima's fault that poor Poe is stuck in the raven form." Hexa remarked. Magica glared at her sister. "What does that have to do with anything right now Hexa?" "If you weren't such a pathetic witch you could have fixed your blunder by now and turned Poe back to normal." Hexa took a sip of tea. "Not like Poe was much better at magic than you anyway. If I could I would turn him back myself, being the eldest and strongest of us." "But you can't, so stuff a sock in it Hexa!" Magica growled.

"All right girls that's enough!" Granny DeSpell intervened. "This is supposed to be an occasion for celebrating so even if it's not what we expected we should settle down and celebrate!"

"What is that supposed to mean; 'not what you expected'?" Magica turned her attention to Granny DeSpell. "Well, we all thought that you would be marrying Rosolio not… oh how do I say this?" Magica crossed her arms. "Just spit it out." "Well… a non-magical, and frankly rather _old_ , person. There are those who would find it well…" "Embarrassing." Hexa bluntly finished her grandmother's sentence.

She motioned toward Scrooge who sat in his chair looking like his fuse was a half inch away from detonation. Snickering to the other side of Scrooge was Donald, who was trying so hard to not burst out laughing on the spot.

"Honestly what I would really like to know is why _he_ would choose Magica? Not only is she the softest witch there's ever been but she's also not really the prettiest either." Castandra said, making eyes at Scrooge's solid silver tea service. "I mean _I_ would look so much better adorned in all the wonderful jewels I'm sure he has and could buy~"

Scrooge shuddered and glared at her, inching the tea service closer to himself and Donald nearly choked on his tea trying to contain his laughter. Scrooge and Magica were relieved when Duckworth and Mrs. Beakley came in to announce the guest rooms were ready and serve lunch.

"I can't believe they had the nerve to call me old!" Scrooge raged in his home office after lunch. "Well, you _are_ old Scroogie." Magica chuckled. "Your family is absolutely terrible, just terrible!" "I told you so. Gah! I wish Rosolio had kept his beak shut!" she groaned in agreement. "So, what about this ring that's being polished? How are you planning to back up that statement?" "Can't you just make one with your magic?" Scrooge asked. "I could… but they would know the difference between a real ring and a magically conjured one." "Meaning?" Scrooge was not liking where Magica was going with this.

"Meaning they would question and criticize why you didn't just give me a ring instead of making me conjure one." She explained. "Have you not seen enough already to convince you that they will annoy you to death over it?" Scrooge scowled. "I am not wasting my money on a ring for the likes of you." He said firmly.

"Then what do you _propose_ to do _Scroogie_?" She questioned, deliberately adding emphasis to certain words to annoy him. "I am apparently supposed to have a ring and I already told you why I can't make one with magic." "Hmph; More like you _won't_ make one with magic." Scrooge grumbled. "Oh whatever! It'll be YOU they criticize and hound, not me!" Magica fumed.

"CRAW! MAGICA HELP!" Poe's voice rang through the mansion. "Uncle Scrooge! Uncle Scrooge Help!" The voices of Scrooge's triplet nephews cried out. Scrooge and Magica bolted from the office, down the hall and into the boys' room where they found total chaos.

Minima had gotten a hold of Poe and dressed him up, put him in a cage hanging from the middle of the ceiling and enchanted the boys' toys to come to life and harass them.

"Help us!" Huey cried as a bunch of green army men wrapped him a blanket like a giant burrito. "Do something! Make her make them stop!" Dewey pleaded as he tried to shield himself from the relentless fire of toy guns and cannons. "Get me out of here!" Louie wailed as building blocks nearly entombed him.

"Minima! Stop it this minute!" Magica commanded. "But Auntie I need to practice!" Minima whined. "Not on my nephews and not in my house you brat!" Scrooge used his cane to snag the cage holding Poe and pull it down. "Give him back you, meanie!"

"Magica, get your niece under control or _I_ will!" Scrooge threatened as he released Poe from the cage. "Right…" Magica began to wave her hands and chant a spell. "Abra Duckabra, Toys that play go back to being played with!" As she finished her spell the toys all fell silent and the boys were freed. "Thanks!" They all breathed a sigh of relief as they escaped their torments.

"MA-MAAA!" Minima wailed and almost immediately Winnicent appeared.

"What is it my little witch?" "Auntie Magica and Unkey Scrooge were being mean to me!" She sniffled. "I was just playing with Unkey Poe and my new cousins…" "Magica can't you just let her be? Surely you have more important things to be doing then interrupting Minima getting to know the boys!" Winnicent snapped. "Maybe if you actually _supervised_ Minima there wouldn't be any trouble!" Magica fumed at her sister. "You're just jealous that you're not the baby of the family anymore." Winnicent scoffed and Minima stuck her tongue out behind her. "Although I suppose you'll probably try to take that spotlight again with a little egg of your own at some point now."

The triplets gagged while the color drained from Scrooge and Magica's faces. "We need to go pick up the ring from the Jeweler's, NOW!" Scrooge sputtered and Magica nodded nervously. "Uh Right! Let's go!" And with that she quickly teleported them into town.

"I cannot think of anything more disturbing! The very notion is unimaginably nauseating!" Scrooge shuddered. "'A little egg of my own'? YUCK! Never!" Magica was sure she could feel her skin crawl at the very thought of it, especially with Scrooge of all people!

After taking a moment to compose themselves Magica spoke again. "My sister needs to learn to button her beak and pay attention to her brat." "I can agree with that." Scrooge nodded."Well let's go, I guess I don't have any choice now." He started off down the street. "What? Where are you going?" Magica followed him in confusion. "I went and said we were picking up a ring so I guess I have to now." Scrooge griped. "Could be worse…" Magica shuddered. "We could be being forced to pick up a baby carriage!" They both cringed at the thought.

Scrooge and Magica soon arrived at his money bin. "Why are we here instead of a jewelers?" Magica inquired. "Because," Scrooge sighed in resigned defeat. "I said I wasn't gonna spend any money on a ring for you and I meant it." "So, then I still don't know why we're at your money bin." She continued to follow him. "Just shut up and follow me." Scrooge led the way into his office. "Stay right here witch, move a muscle before I return and you'll regret it." Magica considered retorting but was too curious and so kept her beak shut and waited as instructed.

When Scrooge returned from the main vault he was holding a golden ring with a large ruby on it.

"What is this?" Magica asked as Scrooge put on it her finger with a big grin. "It's a cursed ring I found on one of my many adventures; it'll transform the wearer into a solid gold statue." "Ack! Then get it off of me!" Magica shrieked and flailed about, struggling to remove the ring until she realized Scrooge was laughing his tail feathers off and that nothing was happening to her.

"Curse you McDuck! That's not funny!" "Oh yes, it is Magica! It's hysterical!" Scrooge laughed until he felt a sharp pain in his forehead. "Ouch!" He rubbed the spot where the ring had made contact when Magica threw it at him. "Goon." Magica hissed. Scrooge picked up the ring. "Okay, Okay. I've had my fun." He wiped a tear from his eye. "I did find this like I said, but it's not really cursed; I promise." "Better not or you _will_ be!" Magica threatened as she put the ring back on.

"I don't really care too much for this one so I'm not too worried about it, but nevertheless you will return it when this is over or pay me back for it." "You know I can't afford to pay you for it." Magica hissed. "Then I'm sure you'll be returning it." Scrooge scoffed. "Now we'd better be getting back, I want to make sure your kooky family doesn't destroy mine!" Magica nodded and they walked back to the mansion.

"Oh my! It's so big and red!" Castandra almost literally drooled over the ring on Magica's finger when she saw it. "Yes, and it's mine so don't get any ideas you jewel thief!" Magica swiftly yanked her hand away when Castandra tried to take it from her finger. "Is it magical?" she asked, eyes firmly fixed on the large ruby.

They all sat in the lounge around the large fireplace as Magica showed off the ring in the glow of the fire.

"I'm sure it's just cheap costume jewelry." Hexa yawned, unimpressed. "Yes, after all he's just a non-magical, there's no way he would be able to get her a magical ring." Winnicent added. "It's still beautiful bambina, even if it's fake." Granny DeSpell said reassuringly. "Are you all daft? Scrooge McDuck doesn't do fake! That ruby is as real as they come and so's the band too!" Scrooge huffed, upset at being accused of owning a fake ruby ring. "Really?" Castandra leered over her sister's hand, staring longingly at the ruby.

"Yes it is, and it's magical as well." Magica stated. "Ooh really?" Castandra's eyes got even bigger. "Yes, it gives the wearer the power turn whomever they want into stone!" Magica launched toward Castandra who shrieked and ran out of the room. Then Magica turned to Granny, Winnicent and Hexa. "You wouldn't dare!" Hexa hissed. "Try me." Magica challenged. The other three witches looked at her and then each other before deciding they didn't want to risk being turned into stone with magic they were unfamiliar with and also fled the room.

Scrooge and Magica burst into hysterical laughter after they left. "See? Now _that's_ funny!" Magica cackled. "I couldn't agree more!" Scrooge snickered. "I honestly can't believe you used my trick from earlier!" "Well it's funnier when it's not done to me!" The two laughed until Granny DeSpell and Hexa poked their heads back in the room. "You little snip! How dare you trick us like that!" Hexa hissed while Granny just laughed. "That's a good one bambina!" "Well maybe it'll teach Castandra not to drool over other people's jewels." Magica huffed.

Soon the daylight gave way to night and after dinner everyone started heading off to their rooms. "Hopefully we'll get ourselves out of this mess in the morning." Scrooge yawned. "I hope so." Magica nodded as the two approached the stairs to bid everyone goodnight.

"M-Magi-poo please tell me you two aren't staying together!" Rosolio whimpered, a heart broken look in his eyes. Before the horrified couple could respond Hexa smacked Rosolio in the head. "Idiot. I'm sure they are so you'll just have to get over it. Besides it would be highly inappropriate for her to stay with you!" "Uh well…" Magica started.

"Sir?" Duckworth leaned down to whisper to Scrooge so the witches couldn't hear. "What?" "All the guest rooms are taken at this point… so where do you intend to put your supposed bride-to-be?" "Criminy! Are you serious Duckworth?" "Gravely sir." Duckworth nodded, stifling a chuckle at the situation.

Scrooge facepalmed and sighed in irritation. "This just gets worse all the time!" He muttered under his breath. "Erm, Scroogie is something wrong?" Magica asked, her voice a little overly syrupy. "Uh, n-nothing at all Magica dearest. We should all be getting to bed though, it's late and we have a big day tomorrow. Goodnight all!" Scrooge linked arms with Magica and ushered her into his room.

"What's the big idea dragging me in here Scrooge!" Magica barked after Scrooge shut the door. "Unfortunately, this where you'll have to sleep witch." Scrooge grumbled as he opened his closet and tossed a pillow and some spare blankets on the floor beside the bed. "Make yourself at home." "What! Why?" Magica demanded. "Because, your whole family took up all the extra rooms, that's why!" Magica groaned while Scrooge shut himself in his closet to change out of his frock coat and into his nightshirt. Magica chanted a few words and her suitcase appeared in the room, allowing her to change to her plain white sleeveless night gown while Scrooge was in the closet.

When Scrooge came out of the closet Magica was sprawled out on the bed. "What do you think you're doing?" He grabbed the blanket and shook it, causing her to fall off the bed. "Hey!" "When I said 'make yourself at home' I didn't mean it literally!" Scrooge pointed to the pillow and blankets on the floor. " _That's_ where you're gonna sleep!"

Magica scoffed. "You expect me to sleep on the floor like a dog? I don't think so! I'm a lady and a guest so _I_ get to sleep on the bed and _you_ can sleep on the floor!" "First of all: you're not a guest you're a freeloader and secondly, you're no lady, Magica DeSpell!" Scrooge retorted as he got under his covers and lay down, turning his back to her.

Suddenly he was hit with a pillow. "You goon!" Magica barked. "It's no wonder you're not married; no woman in her right mind would put up with you!" Scrooge turned and shot her a glare before returning the pillow. "Oof!" The pillow struck Magica square in the beak. "Shut up and go to sleep!" Scrooge returned to his former position and tried his best to ignore the witch in his room as she muttered and grumbled while she tried to make herself comfortable on his bedroom floor.


	2. DeSpells and newspaper wedding bells

The following morning Duckworth knocked on Scrooge's door. "Mr. Duck you need to see this morning's paper, immediately!" Scrooge woke and stretched, searching for his glasses as he told Duckworth to enter.

"What is it Duckworth?" Scrooge yawned. "Mr. McDuck this is qui-Ooof!" Duckworth tripped over something on the floor in his rush to hand Scrooge the paper. "Argh! Watch where you're going you louse!" Magica barked from the floor, sitting up with hair sticking out in all directions. Scrooge snickered. "That's a lovely bed-head you have there Magica." "Shut up." She growled in response. "My apologies… madam." Duckworth collected himself and stood up, handing Scrooge the morning paper. He read the headline: "'Scrooge McDuck finally tying the knot'?! What is this?" He continued reading.

'Quadribillionaire Scrooge McDuck may finally be getting married as he was seen leaving his money bin with a lady who had a ring on her finger; but just who is this woman who seems to have won McDuck over? Why none other than Magica DeSpell!' and right beside the article, in living bold color, was a photo from the day before of the two of them leaving the money bin with the ruby ring on Magica's finger. "'Will Duckburg be hearing wedding bells for the world's richest man in the near future?' This is just great! Now this stupid charade is all over town!" Scrooge tossed the paper across the room and Duckworth decided it would be best to leave now before he got caught in the middle of something unpleasant. "You're kidding me!" Magica grabbed the paper and read it herself, sure enough there was indeed an article questioning their impending marriage and a photo of them with her wearing that stupid ring.

"Oh, my life is over now! Everyone and their brother is going to think I'm marrying you!" Scrooge moaned miserably, flopping backwards on his bed. "YOUR life? What about MY life! You think _I_ want everyone thinking we're getting married?" Magica grabbed Scrooge by the collar and shook him. "These newspaper people are YOUR problem so YOU fix it!" She shouted in his face. Suddenly the phone rang. "Saved by the bell!" Scrooge pulled free of Magica's grip and answered the phone. "Hello, Scrooge McDuck speaking." He listened as the caller spoke. "Wha-I mean of course! W-We would love to do an interview!... 3 o'clock this afternoon will be perfect!" Scrooge hung up and saw Magica's confused face staring at him. "What did you just get us into?" She asked nervously. "An interview with a reporter!" He said with grin. "We can clear this whole thing up this afternoon." "And what about my family?" Scrooge's face fell. "That is a bit of a problem," He rubbed his chin. "We need to get them out of here _before_ they learn the truth." "Yes… I guess I'm gonna have to face the music sooner or later…" Magica gulped. "Well would you rather keep sleeping on my floor?" Scrooge questioned. "Don't make me answer that."

Breakfast was just as noisy and full of commotion as the previous day's lunch had been, with Magica's family raising a ruckus.

Just when Scrooge and Magica thought they were about to lose their minds there was a furious ringing of the front door bell followed by Brigitta practically flying into the dining room. "Tell me it isn't true Lammiekins!" she wailed. "Uh, good morning Brigitta…" Scrooge knew she must have seen the paper and now knew about him and Magica. "You're not really marrying that awful, ugly witch, are you?" Brigitta asked, trying to latch onto Scrooge who was holding her back by the shoulders. "Brigitta if you calm down and give me a minute to explain-" Scrooge tried get her to settle down and shut her beak.

"Ugly? Who're you calling ugly!?" Magica glared at Brigitta. "You! You, terrible witch!" Brigitta retorted. "You've enchanted him with some terrible spell haven't you!" "I'll have you know he is _not_ under a spell, he's agreed to this of his own free will!" Magica spat at the obsessed blonde. "It's simply not true! It can't be! My Lammiekins is going to marry ME!" Brigitta finally grabbed a hold of Scrooge who tried to extricate himself from her vice-like grip. "B-Brigitta please… LET GO!"

"Cretino!" Rosolio shouted. "How dare you two-time my Magi-poo-Oof!" Magica punched Rosolio in the stomach. "Stay out of this you idiot!" She then turned to Scrooge and Brigitta. "Do something about her unless you want me to do it!" "I'm trying!" Scrooge snapped, still trying to free himself. "Remove your nasty spell, get back on your broom and skedaddle you, ugly hussy!" Brigitta demanded. One look was all it took to see that now it was Magica's fuse that was about at its end and before Scrooge could do anything about it, it was too late. "Get off of him and get out of here, you obsessed loony!" Magica raged. "Magica… don't do anything _I'll_ regret!" Scrooge pleaded, finally breaking free of Brigitta's grip. "I told you Scrooge; you get rid of her or _I_ will! No one calls me ugly!" Magica raised her hands in preparation to cast a spell on Brigitta and Scrooge knew there was only one thing he could do.

"Brigitta, I did agree to this of my own volition." Brigitta shook her head in disbelief. "I refuse to believe that!" "Look me in eye Brigitta, can you not tell I'm under no spell?" Scrooge took hold of Magica's hands, mainly to keep her from casting any spells, as he spoke. "I've told you time and again that I'm not gonna marry you Brigitta; _please_ try to understand!" Brigitta looked at the couple in disbelief and complete silence for a moment before her eyes welled up with tears. "I-I see… well then I wish you all the best…" She sniffled and dejectedly turned to leave. "OH, LAMMIEKINS WHYYYYYY!" She wailed in despair as she left.

"Poor Brigitta…" Scrooge sighed, feeling a little guilty for breaking her heart. "Hmph, how dare she call me ugly; and a hussy! I should have turned her into a gargoyle, then we'd see who's REALLY ugly." Magica grumbled. "Magica… _Magica_ … MAGICA!" Scrooge barked; pulling her attention to him. "WHAT?" "Could you let go of my hands now? You're cutting off my circulation!" Magica looked down at their hands and realized that somewhere between Scrooge stopping her from casting a spell and Brigitta leaving, she had gripped onto his hands like a boa constrictor. She immediately let go and turned away. "If I ever see that crazy woman again I will cast a nasty spell on _her_."

Later that afternoon Scrooge and Magica sat in the lounge and prepared to meet the reporter and straighten everything out. Scrooge arranged for Magica's family to take a sightseeing tour of Duckburg so as to get them out the way. Everything seemed to going perfectly according to plan for once. "As soon as this interview is over I'm outta here." Magica said, ringing her hands nervously. Scrooge nodded. "Yes, and the sooner the better. I want my house witch-free again." They were both relieved to finally be putting an end to the madness but Magica couldn't help being nervous about how she was going to deal with her family afterwards.

Scrooge had never seen Magica so uneasy and after spending two days around her family he could understand somewhat why she was so concerned about their reactions to everything. Still, it hadn't seemed enough for this level of nerves and Scrooge found his better judgment being overruled by his curiosity. "I know your family is a royal pain but why are you so worked up?" He asked. Magica didn't say anything at first, she simply ignored Scrooge until he asked again and when she thought about it the simple fact that he not only had been forced to put up with the obnoxious bunch but had even seemed to defend her a couple of times from them made her feel maybe she should just talk to him about it. Besides, she couldn't help but feel that maybe getting some of it off of her chest might be good.

"You've seen what they are like. Granny is the easiest to deal with but she is also prone to being overbearing and not paying enough attention sometimes." Magica finally spoke. "Go on..." Scrooge encouraged. "As you're no doubt aware by now, Poe and I are the youngest. He is actually my twin." "You have a twin?" Scrooge was surprised at this information. "So why did you turn him into a raven?" "That… was an accident. We were working with a transformation spell because Poe thought a new look would be fun. Unfortunately, it didn't work right." Scrooge nodded. "So then why can't you turn him back?" "Because, it requires a specific reversal spell… which I don't have." Magica explained. "Oh." Scrooged nodded again.

"Anyway; My sisters have always considered themselves better than Poe and myself and have always picked on the two of us. Sometimes their behavior has bordered on cruel." "That's terrible." "Yes… I mean of course a good witch has to be terrible, uh I mean if a witch is to be considered good then she must be bad, oh never mind! You know what I mean!" Scrooge couldn't help chuckling at Magica's verbal fumbling. She wasn't amused but continued her story. "They always throw it in my face whenever I fail at something, they always insult and mock me. They've stolen from me several times as well, Castandra the most and the last time she did was the worst."

Magica couldn't believe she was telling Scrooge all of this, that she was even having this conversation with him. Part of her was embarrassed but the other felt strangely comfortable talking to him. "What did she do?" Scrooge's curiosity was piqued as Magica seemed to cringe slightly at the memory. "She used a magic talisman to freeze me temporarily so she could go through my things and take what she wanted." She explained. "I see." Scrooge nodded, beginning to understand. "Poe is really the only one of my siblings I get along with."

Scrooge couldn't believe it; but he found himself feeling sympathy for the witch that was usually a nuisance to him. He watched her as she kept up a poker face that only showed faint cracks. He was reminded of the times he wasn't as nice to his younger sisters as he should have been and felt a pang of guilt. Before Magica could continue the reporter arrived.

The interview went well; for about two minutes before Magica's family came back and took over the interview. Granny DeSpell gushed about her happiness that Magica was getting married, Hexa criticized Scrooge and therefore her sister's taste in men, Castandra tried to turn it into a personal ad searching for other eligible millionaires and Winnicent just carried on about Minima's accomplishments. Scrooge's nephews and launchpad tried to take the interview back from the DeSpells but ultimately the whole thing just became something of a three-ring circus.

"Oh, for peat sakes! This is just ridiculous." Scrooge sighed, shaking his head while Donald lost his temper and was promptly hit upside the beak by Winnicent while the reporter (Who was unfortunately male and wearing a nice Dolex watch) was trying to get away from Castandra who was simultaneously chasing after him and swatting away Launchpad who was trying and failing to persuade her to leave the reporter alone. Hexa had gotten bored and left while Granny DeSpell had fallen asleep and the triplets were trying to wake her up to stop her magical snoring.

Magica said nothing but shrank back into her chair, wanting desperately to just disappear out of her immense embarrassment from her family's behavior however she just couldn't recall any spell she could use to escape at the moment. Suddenly Scrooge leaned over. "Let's get out of here before we get caught in a crossfire." He suggested. Wanting desperately to be anywhere else Magica accepted the offer and slipped quietly and quickly out of the mansion with Scrooge.

* * *

(Just a quick note here; Dolex is (I hope a kind of obvious) spoof on Rolex.)


	3. Glomgold's scheming

Brigitta sat in the park looking sadly at a picture of Scrooge and wiped a tear from her eye before venting her frustration. "You cad! You cheat! You fink!" She shouted at the photograph.

"Aye; he's all that and more if ya ask me!" a male voice laced with a Scottish accent spoke. Brigitta looked up and saw Flintheart Glomgold; an old duck wearing a kilt and sporting a full, grey, beard standing before her; looking down with distaste at Scrooge's picture. "Glomgold? What do you want?" Brigitta asked suspiciously. "Well actually I wanted to talk to you Ms. MacBridge. I read the paper and I know you can't be taking take it well." "No, I'm not at all! I don't know whose tail-feathers I want pull out more! That cad's or that hussy's!" Brigitta began to ring the photo in her hands as she spoke.

Glomgold laughed. "Well I recently made a new friend who agrees with some of your sentiments." "Really?" Brigitta's expression was overtaken by curiosity. "Yes, turns out the ah, hussy, actually had a fiancé of her own before McDuck swooped in." "So, then either he's a bigger cad than I thought or that terrible witch is more of a hussy than I thought." Brigitta said, getting angry again. "Yes, I'm afraid so; but if you would be interested in helping me than I think between the three of us we could teach them a lesson." "Either Scroogie will learn not mess around with a woman's heart or that nasty witch will learn not to mess with my Scroogie; Or Both! Either way I could get my Lammiekins back! I'm _in_ Glomgold!"


	4. Magica making an impression

"Well, that interview was a bust." Scrooge sighed, licking his ice cream cone. "My family is complete chaos." Magica said between spoons of own her ice cream. "I don't wish them on anyone, not even _you_." "Unfortunately, I _do_ have to deal with them now." Scrooge responded, finishing his ice cream. "Ah well, looks like we're still stuck with each other."

Magica nodded. "I guess so. So, as long as I'm going be stuck with you maybe you could do me a favor?" She asked, eyes narrowing with intent. "What?" Scrooge asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "Buy me more of this ice cream to drown my sorrows in!" She chuckled while eating the last spoonful. Scrooge chuckled. "Honestly, I think that could be doable, after all, I might need to drown my sorrows too."

"So," Magica started once they finished laughing. "What should we do now?" Scrooge shrugged. "I don't know. I guess we could wait and see how the reporter's article turns out or if he wants to reschedule the interview." "If Castandra didn't scare him away for good." Magica snickered. "That's a good point; that gold digger is the scariest witch I've ever met!" He shuddered for dramatic effect while snickering.

"You don't think _I'm_ scary?" She asked, slightly offended. "After all the trouble I've caused you?" Scrooge shook his head. "Don't forget that a good amount of the time you helped me fix the problems you caused and I seem to recall one time when you were actually nice to me." "Oh really? Like when?" "That adventure you took me on with the Moonquartz. Don't think I didn't figure that one out." He grinned mischievously and she just gave him an annoyed look.

"So, what was that anyway?" He asked, deciding to keep talking since she remained silent. "You weren't really trying to take the dime that time so why? I know you did all of that on purpose…" He trailed off and gave her an opportunity to answer. When Magica remained silent and continued to focus her gaze at the window Scrooge spoke again. "Were you maybe… _flirting_ with me?" At that Magica fell out of her chair and when she flew back to her feet her face was red.

"What is wrong with you? WHY would I FLIRT with YOU!" She barked. Scrooge laughed. "Well you tell me Magica. You were the one who deliberately stranded me on a deserted island with you." Magica's face turned a shade redder. "You're just being stupid and imagining things you dumb old duck." She muttered, turning to head for the door of the ice cream parlor. "And where are you going?" He asked. "Back to see what kind of mess my sisters made!" Magica was still visibly and audibly flustered as she walked out the door. Scrooge chuckled and let her have a five-minute head start before he got up and followed her.

The next day Scrooge sat in his home office and called the reporter to apologize for the way the interview had gone and received a surprise, Castandra and Granny DeSpell gave him the 'scoop' on his and Magica's engagement party!

"Magica!" Scrooge yelled, none too thrilled. Magica walked in a moment later, Poe on her shoulder. "What did they do now?" She asked, already expecting that her family had done more damage. "Your grandmother and sister told the reporter we're having an engagement party!" Scrooge explained. Magica slapped her forehead, dragged her hand down her face and groaned in frustration. "I think I may just turn them ALL into crows!" "Could you really do that?" Scrooge was hopeful until he heard her response. "HA! If only I could."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So, what do we do? This charade getting really tiresome you know." "Well what do you want me to do? If I could have fixed this sooner I would have!" She snapped. "Oh, I don't know anymore!" He sighed. "I guess we need to just plan this party." "I guess so. Next thing you know we'll be having to ACTUALLY plan a wedding." She groaned.

"This could be the opportunity you need." Poe chimed in. "How's that?" Scrooge asked. "You two could stage a break-up at the engagement party; make like somebody's got cold feet or like there was a spell involved or whatever works!" Scrooge rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You know; he might just be right. But we'd have to plan it carefully so as not cause too much chaos." They bounced a few ideas back and forth and, in the end, they agreed to try acting as though she had actually put him under a spell and it had worn off.

And so, preparations for the engagement party began. Scrooge and Magica spent the day dealing with Magica's grandmother giving suggestions for the decor, music and even offering her old wedding dress (A very antiquated gown riddled with moth holes) for Magica to wear for the actual ceremony which Magica refused. Her sisters argued about the bridesmaid dresses, who would be maid of honor and questioned whether or not the wedding would even happen anyway, making remarks about how Scrooge could still snap out of whatever lapse of sanity had caused him to get engaged to their sister.

Daisy had come over for a while and she and Donald sat in on the whole thing; Donald still trying not to laugh at his poor uncle's predicament and Daisy cringing at the DeSpell sisters' rudeness to their sister. Daisy actually found herself feeling sympathetic towards Magica.

By eight o'clock Scrooge and Magica had decided to call it an early night to get away from all the chaos. "Well I guess somebody is anxious for some alone time." Hexa remarked as she flipped through one of the many bridal catalogues they had been using to look at wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses. "Well maybe the dime isn't the only thing Magica is marrying him for… if you know what I mean." Castandra giggled. Magica's face turned a furious red. "I am simply tired and I'm going to bed to get some rest. _Goodnight_!" She fled the room whilst her sisters laughed. Scrooge followed Magica, not wanting to dignify Castandra's remark with any response.

By the time he entered the room Magica had already changed to her nightgown and had pretty much cocooned herself in the blankets on the floor. Scrooge looked at the lump on his floor and cocked an eyebrow. "Magica? What in the world are you doing down there?" "I'm hoping that if I curl up tight enough I can die and be done with this humiliation."

Scrooge just had to chuckle as he entered the closet and changed into his pajamas. "Don't you dare, I don't wanna have to deal with your family on my own!" He could hear a laugh from the blanket cocoon as she uncurled herself and came out from under the blanket. "I'm sorry, my sisters don't think before they run their beaks."

Scrooge's expression turned from amusement to surprise. "What?" Magica asked. "This the second time now… this is the second time you've _actually_ apologized to me. This is serious, I think the charade is starting to knock you off your rocker." Scrooge snickered. Then he was hit in the face with a pillow. "How dare you! I am _not_ off my rocker!" She snapped. "You know, I'm really considering doing something about you and this pillow." He said, holding up the pillow she'd hit him with. "Oh? Like what?" "Well, I could take this pillow back and make you do without…" He said thoughtfully while playing with the pillow.

"Or I could do _this_!" He smacked her with the pillow. "Oh, now you're going to get it McDuck!" Magica grabbed a pillow off his bed and threw it at him but he managed to dodge the fluffy projectile. "Ha! You need to practice your aim Magica!" He retaliated with another pillow. Before long there was cotton stuffing from the pillows everywhere.

"I think we're out of ammunition." Scrooge said as he looked at the state of his room and his pillows. Magica nodded. "I think you're right." She said with a laugh. Suddenly the door flew open.

"Uncle Scrooge are you okay?" "Back away from Uncle Scrooge!" "We heard a struggle; did she attack you?" "Did she try to steal your dime?" Huey, Dewey, and Louie were armed with water guns and Webby had her nun-chucks at the ready. They stood poised to attack and Magica chuckled. "Oh children, I've already beaten him; he's out of ammunition but _I_ still have one last shot!" "What-" Scrooge was surprised, and thoroughly caught off-guard, by Magica's quick toss of a decorative throw pillow from his bed that she'd been holding behind her back right into his beak. She laughed as he fell on his tail-feathers. "You sneaky witch!" He snapped as he collected himself and got back on his feet.

The kids just stood with their mouths agape, they had rushed in expecting to see a major life and death struggle between the two, not an intense pillow fight! "Uh… you've been having a _pillow_ fight?" Dewey asked in disbelief. "Well, yes… I suppose so." Scrooge thought about it for a moment and it occurred to him that he indeed had a pillow fight with Magica DeSpell, that was something he never would have imagined happening and yet it did and it had actually been kind of fun.

The kids continued to stare in disbelief at the scene as Magica began to chant some words and all the cotton stuffing swirled around. They held up their weapons as they watched, still unsure about what the witch was up to, as the pillows were restored to their original state and fell in a pile on the floor around them.

"Uh, thanks… I think." Scrooge said. "Well, we couldn't leave this mess everywhere." Magica said matter-of-factly. Suddenly a pillow came flying in the room and hit Magica in the back. "Ha! Gotcha!" Lena said smugly, leaning in the doorway behind Webby and the triplets. "You little brat!" Magica snapped. "What? I heard someone say 'pillow fight' and I couldn't ignore the opportunity to pelt you with one." Lena chuckled, then looked at Webby. "By the way, Webbs… Gotcha!" She laughed as she threw another pillow from behind her back at Webby. "Hey! I thought we were friends!" Webby frowned while Lena laughed.

Lena's laughing was cut short by another pillow to the face from Magica. "All's fair in love and pillow fights you know." She said smugly. Lena used her magic to turn the water guns and nun-chucks into pillows so as to arm the others appropriately. "Exactly." She said, tossing another pillow at Magica who dodged it only for it to hit Scrooge. "All right lassie, now you're in for it!" He said, grabbing a pillow from the pile and throwing it at Lena, who grabbed Huey and used him as a shield. "Hey!" He shouted. "All right then, let's do this." Dewey tossed his water gun turned pillow at Scrooge and before long an all-out pillow war was being waged in Scrooge's room.

Magica knew that the whole thing was silly; but it brought back memories of her childhood, of pillow fights she and her siblings had when they were still small and her sisters weren't yet so cold and self-centered. She had decided to just let this be what it was, genuine fun; and enjoy it.

Scrooge had fun as well, remembering times spent with his sisters before he moved to America and times spent with Donald and Della with they were kids and truly enjoying this time spent with his great nephews and Webby, even with Lena and Magica to his surprise. The whole thing felt wonderfully normal and right, like this was how things were meant to be.

The pillow war came to end when Webby went down and didn't get back up. At first everyone worried she'd been seriously hurt until they realized she'd fallen asleep in the pile of pillows.

"All right lads and lassies, I think it's time for bed." Scrooge said, carefully picking up Webby. Lena yawned. "I guess you're right, just looking at Webby is making me sleepy." Huey looked at Scrooges bedside clock. "Yeah, I didn't even realize it's this late already." The boys all yawned and rubbed their eyes and headed to their room. Scrooge took Webby to her room where Minima was already asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor and gently placed Webby on the bottom bunk of her bed while Lena climbed onto the top bunk. "Goodnight Aunt Magica, Mr. McDuck." She said quietly. "Goodnight." They both responded then carefully closed the door behind them.

"Goodnight Uncle Scrooge." The boys said as Scrooge and Magica walked past. "Goodnight boys." Scrooge replied and began to close their door. "Goodnight Magica." They added, rolling over and snuggling up in their beds, causing Scrooge to pause and Magica to just stare in surprise at the sleeping triplets for a moment before quietly replying. "…Goodnight…"

Scrooge and Magica returned to Scrooge's room, both inexplicably feeling happy and at peace and somehow even more uncertain about the situation. They cleaned up the pillows but Magica kept some of the extras as the pile made the floor more comfortable. They remained silent as they settled into their respective spots, him in his bed and her on the floor, and he turned out the lights. "…Goodnight Scrooge." Magica finally spoke. Scrooge looked over at her, wrapped up in her blanket in the middle of a pile of pillows she looked pretty comfortable; in fact, he almost thought he could see a contented smile on her face in the dark, although that could just be the dark and his mind playing tricks on him. "Goodnight Magica."


	5. Growing problems

The following day was more of the same chaos of planning the engagement party and going over wedding details as Scrooge, Magica, Granny, Hexa, Castandra and Winnicent all sat in Scrooge's study going over various wedding and decorating catalogues and all was quiet for once; until Granny DeSpell cranked the stress and awkwardness up to 100. "You know, it's strange." She said, looking up from the binder of wedding dress photos she had been pouring over to try and find a suitable dress for Magica. "What's strange?" Magica asked, not really wanting to know what her grandmother had to say. "We've been here for a few days now and I have to say that I'm worried." "Worried?" Magica echoed in confusion. "Yes bambina, you two just don't seem to be very affectionate towards each other. You two are soon to be married but you don't seem too happy, is everything alright?" Scrooge choked on the tea he'd been sipping while trying to not think about the situation. Magica stammered. "O-of course we're affectionate! It's just that things have been stressful, what with wedding planning and uninvited guests dropping in unannounced."

"Even so, Granny makes a point. You two don't act like an engaged couple, in fact you hardly even act like a couple at all." Hexa looked at them suspiciously. "True," Castandra agreed. "I mean obviously his money alone is reason enough to marry him; but even I know that a marriage without love is doomed to failure. Why do you think I'm not married?" Winnicent nodded. "It's true you know; I know that only too well… Sometimes I think about my husband and how things turned out with him." "You cast a love spell on him to make him marry you and when it wore off you turned him into a frog!" Magica snapped. "How is that love?" "My point exactly sister. He didn't really love me so our marriage didn't work out."

Magica groaned in frustration and Scrooge just tried to pretend he wasn't hearing this rather terrifying story. "Can we _please_ just get off the subject now? I think we should decorate with some belladonna flowers." Magica said, trying to go back to planning the party. "If there's some kind of problem here then maybe it should be discussed before anything proceeds further." Hexa glared at Scrooge. "Is there a problem McDuck?" Scrooge returned her glare and took Magica's hand. "There is no problem, and even if there was it wouldn't be any of your business." He said irritably. "Exactly." Magica agreed. "There's no problems between us whatsoever; so just drop it." "Somehow, I just don't quite buy that." Hexa remarked.

Magica glared at Hexa, then turned to Scrooge. "There's no problems at all… right Scroogie?" She hoped she was convincing while Scrooge nodded, following her lead. "Not a one Magica dearest." Magica decided a quick peck on the cheek would hopefully do the trick and leaned in to do just that; until Scrooge turned to face her.

Scrooge had intended to say or do something but the moment he turned to Magica he completely forgot what his original intention had been because he felt her beak contact his and his mind was fully focused on the contradictions of the situation. On the one hand she was his greatest enemy and the mere thought of kissing or being kissed by her _should_ be making his skin crawl; but… on the other hand there always been some degree of mutual attraction between the two and now he realized that he may just have a real problem and it scared him, especially when combined with the realization that she _wasn't_ faking the kiss and that, for reasons he was still trying to wrap his mind around, he liked it.

Magica hadn't intended for anything but a quick peck but once their lips made contact she found herself taking advantage of the moment, really kissing him and quickly realizing that she did have a problem, a serious one. Just the idea left her reeling in way that was both terrifying and pleasant. Finally having an opportunity to act on and sort of explore the attraction that had been there for so long made her realize two things: First of all, she had _real_ feelings for Scrooge and secondly, she was foolish for it. He would never see her as more than his enemy and a nuisance, therefore this would never be more than an act until they found a way to put an end to it.

Granny and Castandra giggled while Hexa and Winnicent rolled their eyes. "Okay that's enough you two." Hexa said dismissively as she returned her attention to her décor catalogue. Scrooge and Magica pulled apart and Scrooge excused himself. "Are you satisfied now?" Magica asked, her face turning red.

Scrooge was now more certain than ever that this charade needed to end; That kiss was pushing dangerously close to a boundary that he was feeling uncomfortably close to these days; The boundary between 'pretend' and 'real' and the very idea scared him because if Magica ever knew that he'd even entertained the notion of this charade being anything more than pretend she would see an opportunity to manipulate him to get his dime and he really didn't want to think about that, he just wanted to banish the unwanted thoughts, and witches, and for things to just go back to normal.

When dinnertime came around Granny DeSpell offered to make dinner to make-up for the stress the 'happy couple' had been enduring. However, her idea of dinner wasn't shaping up too well as she had used the wrong ingredients by accident and somehow managed to set Scrooge's kitchen on fire.

"Granny, maybe you should stay out of the kitchen." Lena said, coughing from the smoke. "Yes, please do." Magica deadpanned while casting a spell to clean up the mess. "For once I agree." Hexa nodded, helping Granny to the dinning table. "I'm sorry, I guess I hocused when I should have pocused." Granny said sheepishly. "Maybe you should make dinner bambina." She looked at Magica. "Me? Why me?" "Because, I wanted make an old DeSpell family recipe and I know I taught you the recipe and I think you should make it for your soon to be husband." Granny DeSpell said, looking at Magica with a big smile. Magica sighed, it was almost impossible to refuse her grandmother when she made that face so she reluctantly agreed.

As Magica was about to enter the kitchen something occurred to her. "Where's Rosolio? I haven't seen him in a while." Not that she was particularly concerned about Rosolio himself but she was hoping he wasn't up to something troublesome. "Oh, he left the other day. Around the time the reporter with that really nice gold-plated watch came here. Said something about being unable to bear seeing you with another any longer." Castandra said off-handedly. "Oh well, that's one less headache for me to deal with." Magica shrugged. "Lena would you help in the kitchen? We need to get back to your training anyway. Think of it as part of your potion brewing lessons." Lena nodded. "Sure." "Can I help too? I'm really curious about this recipe and I'm handy in the kitchen." Webby asked. "Can she Aunt Magica?" Lena asked, both of them looking at Magica eagerly. "Uh, I think that depends on whether or not anyone else has a problem with it…" Magica looked at Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley.

Scrooge just shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it, if the girl wants to help she can help." He wasn't sure why he felt so sure he could trust Magica alone with Webby but he did and decided not to think too much about it. Mrs. Beakley took a moment to think it over before reluctantly nodding. "Very well." Webby jumped for joy and ran into the kitchen with Lena right behind her. "There shouldn't be any trouble, right?" Mrs. Beakley asked, an eyebrow raised skeptically and her tone conveying her true message: _I can trust you with my granddaughter unsupervised?_ Magica nodded. "Everything should be fine. I'm certain I handle two little girls and a cooking lesson." With that Magica entered the kitchen.

"So, what are we making?" Webby asked excitedly. "The DeSpell family pasta recipe. What ingredients do you have in this kitchen?" Magica asked, opening the pantry and searching for what she needed. "Well I'm pretty sure we have pasta to boil in there somewhere and we have tomatoes in the fridge…" "No, no, no. We do not use pasta from a box. The recipe is for actual homemade pasta so we need flour and eggs." Magica explained as she pulled the flour from the pantry. "I've never actually made pasta before! So what else do we need?" Webby started rifling through cabinets excitedly.

Both Lena and Magica chuckled a bit as they watched her before Magica chanted some words and all the necessary ingredients floated out the cabinets and refrigerator and onto the counter.

"All right girls, I'll make the pasta and you two handle the sauce." Magica instructed. Lena nodded but Webby looked a bit disappointed. "I wanted to help make the pasta…" Magica couldn't help but smile a bit as she was reminded a bit of herself the first time she helped Granny make the pasta recipe. "I would gladly let you, but you don't have a pasta machine, therefore magic is a necessity for making the pasta and you just don't have the ability for it." Webby nodded. "I see. That makes sense. Um… maybe if you're going to be here for a while longer you could… teach me?" She asked hesitantly.

Magica was surprised that Webby was really that interested in magic, especially being that, Scrooge himself didn't care for the art and most likely wouldn't allow it in his house under normal circumstances. "I don't know… ah I suppose you would have to have Mrs. Beakley and Scrooge's permission first but I don't know how much longer I'll be here…" Magica wasn't too sure about how to handle the puppy eyes Webby was giving her and if she was honest with herself it was kind of making her heart melt a little. "…If there is time and you have permission I could try to teach you a little magic." Webby's whole face lit up. "Oh, thank you! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" She bounced around in excitement. "Hey Lena we could take lessons together!" She squealed. Lena nodded. "Heck yeah Webbs that'll be tons of fun!"

Magica couldn't help the small smile crossing her face; she found herself wondering, as she watched Webby and Lena get to work on the sauce, if being in Scrooge's house this long had made her soft or if she had always been this much of a softie like her sisters always said she was. Or could it be that being in McDuck Mansion was getting to be just that comfortable? After all Scrooge didn't seem to mind at all that Webby was helping her. She shook the thoughts from her head and returned her focus to her pasta.

Between a little magic and a little elbow grease they soon had the pasta dinner prepared and served it to everyone.

Huey and Dewey looked at their plates suspiciously. Louie inhaled the aroma deeply. "Mmmm! This smells great!" "Aye, it does. It looks great too." Scrooge agreed. "Are we sure it isn't poisoned?" Dewey asked, poking the pasta with his fork. "Really? I'm serving to my family too you know." Magica scoffed with offense. "That doesn't mean anything." Dewey shrugged. Magica chuckled. "I guess you're really getting to know me, now aren't you?"

"Hey, you trust me, right?" Webby asked. "Yeah…" Dewey answered slowly. "Well I promise it's not poisoned." Dewey eyed Webby skeptically as he slowly took a bite of his pasta. As he chewed he broke into a huge grin. "Oh my gosh! That is really good!" He said as he started devouring his food.

Magica took her seat beside Scrooge who still studied the food in front of him closely. "It isn't poisoned okay, just eat it." She said. Scrooge took a bite. "This really is good!" He said once he swallowed. "Of course, it is." Magica said as she ate. "It's an old family recipe after all. With a secret twist that makes it so good." "What it the secret twist?" He asked in a hushed tone. "The pasta is homemade with just a pinch of garlic in it." She whispered back, smiling proudly. Scrooge tried to ignore her smile and focused on the delicious pasta dinner.

Soon, the evening of the engagement party arrived and Scrooge was trying to control his nerves as he was anxious about how their plan would work; if it did at all. He paced back and forth, dressed in his finest tailcoat, spats, and top hat, waiting for Magica to finish getting ready so they could head to the banquet hall he'd rented and get all of this wedding business over and done with once and for all.

"Do I look okay?" He almost jumped out of his feathers at the sound of Magica's voice as she entered and tugged at her dress uncertainly. "I don't usually dress up so much…" She was wearing a lovely floor-length red gown that fit her well, a pair of simple small golden hoop earrings and golden necklace with a small diamond hanging from it. She had swept her hair up into a simple but elegant bun that had a few strands hanging down, perfectly framing her face; her eyes where shadowed with a pale coral eyeshadow instead of her usual dark purple, there was a light dusting of blush on her cheeks and a hint of color on her lips. The makeup was less dramatic than what she usually wore but it looked very good on her.

Honestly, Scrooge had to admit to himself that Magica looked more than okay, she looked gorgeous at this moment. Of course; Scrooge hadn't failed to notice that the witch was _bewitching_ in general, a man would have to be blind not to notice her looks but seeing her dressed like this, like the elegant lady that should be on his arm, he knew he should probably focus on breaking off the engagement before that dress made him change his mind and got him into a different kind of trouble.

"You look… beautiful." The word slipped out before he even realized it was on his tongue. "Um… thank you… We should go to the party now and end this craziness." She was stunned at his compliment but quickly composed herself and focused on the matters at hand; although she couldn't banish the faint blush that crept across her cheeks. "Right. Let's be off then." Scrooge nodded and the two left the mansion.

Everyone waited in the banquet hall for the couple of the hour to arrive and the awkwardness and tension that filled the air made the waiting very uncomfortable. The only one who seemed unfazed was Granny DeSpell; who simply enjoyed a few of the treats set up on the buffet tables.

The kids were in a back corner setting up the music and wondering how the night was going to go. "I sure hope this goes well, your Aunt Hexa is really creepy; no offense." Webby whispered to Lena. "None taken, Aunt Hexa _is_ a total creep. She would be the first to turns us all into rats and sell us to a lab." Lena responded. "You think Uncle Scrooge has figured out how get out of his engagement to your Aunt Magica yet?" Dewey asked. "I'm sure Uncle Scrooge has figured something out by now." Huey interjected. "Oh yeah, I'm sure he and Aunt Magica have a plan by now." Lena said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. "Hey, not to worry, I came up with a brilliant back-up plan that's sure to work." Louie said proudly. "What did you do?" Webby asked. "I had Launchpad and Gyro help me get a hold of an old friend of Uncle Scrooges who just might be able to help." Louie pulled a letter from his pocket and showed the others. They all read the letter and gasped. "Oh, I hope this doesn't create more problems." Lena sighed. "Well it could actually be just what Scrooge needs to fix the situation." Webby said. Just then the guests of honor entered the banquet hall. "Wow… She looks so pretty!" Webby whispered. "I've never seen her dress like that before… she does look really nice though." Lena looked at her Aunt and Scrooge; they did actually look really good together.

"Okay, we'll talk and eat a little bit first so it doesn't seem too suspicious when the 'spell' breaks." Scrooge whispered. Magica simply stood silent and frozen. "Magica?" He took notice of the frozen and forced smile on her face. "Magica what's wrong?" He nudged her, finally getting a response. "They're all staring at me, I don't like this." Her voice carried a slight quiver. Scrooge looked around the hall and saw that everyone was indeed staring at them and he knew why too. "Well you said it yourself earlier; you don't normally dress the way you are now and right now you look like a proper lady of high society." She finally looked up at him as he spoke. "I imagine they're all stunned by how good it looks on you." Again, the complimentary words just slid out of his mouth before he even knew they were on his mind or tongue. The faint blush from earlier returned to Magica's cheeks. "You really think so?" He just nodded, suddenly feeling betrayed by his own mouth; why was he uncontrollably telling Magica how good she looked right now?

Without another word between them Scrooge and Magica proceeded to play their parts for the evening. They chatted with their guests and enjoyed the buffet and even decided to dance a bit. Then, when he'd felt like it was a good time Scrooge decided they should put their plan into action and put an end to the craziness.

"Whoo… I'm feeling a bit woozy, I think I'll sit down." Scrooge said, moving toward a chair. Just as Magica opened her mouth to say her line another voice came from behind Scrooge.

"What's the matter Scroogie? Old age catching up with you?" Scrooge froze in place; he knew that voice only too well and couldn't help the flood of thoughts and memories the sound of it brought to his mind. "Goldie?" He turned to face his former flame. "What are you doing here?" He looked at the aged but still beautiful face of Goldie O'Gilt; her blonde hair faded but still shining, her emerald eyes still sparkling and her grin just as mischevious as ever. "Your little nephew wrote me a letter explaining your current predicament." She said.

Magica couldn't explain it, something about the way Scrooge reacted to Goldie just… lit some sort of fire in her. "We are fixing the situation, Miss O'Gilt." Her voice was laced with more ice than she'd intended. Something about this just bothered her even more than dealing with Brigitta.

Goldie chuckled. "I can see your nephew wasn't exaggerating all about your situation." She looked at Magica then back at Scrooge. "How in the world did you end up in this, uh, sticky situation Scroogie?" Scrooge sighed. "I don't even really know." "Well how about a dance? For old time's sake?" Goldie asked, still sporting her mischievous grin, and looked at Magica. "If your fiancée doesn't mind that is." Magica didn't like this but couldn't quite convince herself of the reason why, instead she simply decided that this time she would bite her tongue as she didn't want to cause unnecessary ruffling of feathers. "No, not at all. It actually gives me an excuse to catch my breath." She tried to sound sincere and ended her sentence with a light-hearted chuckle. "Okay then!" Goldie took one of Scrooge's hands and they started dancing as the next song began to play.

Magica stood by the kids and watched Scrooge and Goldie dance and tried her best to keep the scowl off her face. Not that her attempts worked all that well. Lena decided to dare asking. "What's the problem? This should actually work to your advantage, right?" Magica forced a smile. "Well yes, of course it will! This is actually better than our plan anyway, I mean 'Scrooge's ex shows up and sweeps him off his feet' works out perfectly as a means of ending our engagement." "Okayyy, but then why do you seem so bothered by it?" "I am NOT bothered by her showing up like this." Lena rolled eyes. "Riiight. That's why you're trying so hard to keep your cool- wait… don't tell me that you-" "Lena, SHUT UP!" Magica spat, cutting her niece off right there and forgetting that there were four others right there hearing this conversation.

"EW!" The triplets groaned in unison. "Really?" Lena rolled her eyes again. "Wait, really? Huh, that would actually explain a lot about why you keep going after Scrooge's number one dime." Webby said. "Yeah, because it isn't the dime she actually wants." Lena added with a snicker. "All right, all of you button your little beaks right now!" Magica demanded, her face turning red either out of anger or embarrassment or both. Lena looked her Aunt over. "That's why you dressed up so much isn't it? Not just to put on a show for everyone but to maybe impress a certain someone?" Magica groaned. "You're not gonna drop this are you?" "Just like you're never gonna tell him, are you?" Magica let out a frustrated sigh. "And what would be the point of that? I mean just look at him; as far as he's concerned nothing and no one exists right now but the two of them." Looking over at Scrooge dancing with Goldie he certainly seemed to have all of his attention focused on her.

Webby looked back and forth between Magica and Scrooge for a moment. "You know, that's actually really sort of sad. Especially because you two would make for one heck of a power couple, an almost scary kind of power couple; his wealth, your magic, both of your minds… Oh man! Nobody could mess with that!" "She's actually kind of right…" Lena said, just imagining the idea. Magica just kind of stared at the two of them for a moment, trying to wrap her head around the fact that Webby seemed to like the idea of her and Scrooge as an actual couple. "You guys are nuts!" Huey and Dewey snapped at Webby and Lena.

"I dunno… that's actually kind of a cool point they make… I mean just think about it, there would be LITERALLY nothing in the world they couldn't accomplish together!" Louie said, his excitement building at thought. "I mean seriously, think about it guys; no more worrying about curses on treasure because Magica could remove the curses! Oh, and just imagine how cool it would be go searching for treasure with the two of them; between Uncle Scrooge's sharp wit and keen intellect and Magica's magic there's not a trap in the world that would stop us!" Huey and Dewey just stared in disbelief at their younger brother. "You're only thinking about the treasure parts." Huey said. "Yeah, the rest is just pure-" Before Dewey could finish his sentence Webby piped up. "Oh yeah! That's totally true Louie! They would be an unstoppable adventuring force to be reckoned with!" "I don't believe what I'm hearing…" Magica was dumbfounded, these kids seemed to be completely in favor of her, Scrooge's greatest nemesis, dating Scrooge. What in the absolute heck was happening here?

"So, Scrooge, this whole thing must have been something of a learning experience for you right?" Goldie asked. "What do you mean?" "I mean Magica; having spent nearly a month engaged to her must have allowed for you to learn things about her you didn't know before." "Well I could have lived life perfectly content with never having met her kooky family." He scoffed as his eyes trailed to Magica for a moment, seeming to be having a lively discussion with kids and surprisingly they all seemed to be getting along quite well.

Scrooge couldn't help but chuckle when she snapped at the kids a bit red-faced. It sort of reminded him of himself and Donald at times. Though the red that kept his eyes on her a bit longer was the red of Magica's dress. She did look beautiful in it.

"Scrooge? Oh, Scrooge… Earth to McDuck!" Goldie chuckled as Scrooge's attention snapped back to her. "I was just watching because things look a bit animated with the kids over there and I wanted be sure she was behaving that's all." "Uh-huh. Sure Scroogie. It's okay to admit it; she is a knockout in that dress after all." Scrooge's face reddened a bit. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've no attraction to Ms. DeSpell, none what-so-ever, no matter how beautiful she is." Goldie chuckled again. "Just keep telling yourself that Scrooge."

Magica sighed and decided to go outside and enjoy the remaining calm before the storm that was sure to come once her family caught on that Scrooge was interested in someone else. The kids didn't even notice her leave; they were too busy fussing amongst themselves about whether or not the idea of her and Scrooge was good or insane. Once outside she leaned against the wall and stared at the moon. It was full and beautiful and seemed rather lonely tonight.

As he and Goldie finished dancing Scrooge noticed that Magica was gone. "Where's Magica? She better not have left me to handle her family by myself!" "Maybe you should go find her and make sure everything's all right." Goldie suggested. "You're right. I'll be back." As Scrooge went off to find Magica Goldie walked over to the kids. "So? How'd it go with Uncle Scrooge?" Huey asked. "Oh boys, I don't think I can help your uncle Scrooge with the situation he's in." Goldie grinned slyly.

"Might we have a word Ms. O'Gilt?" Goldie looked over her shoulder to see Magica's sisters standing behind her, Hexa standing front and center. "Why yes ladies, what words do you want to have with me?" "Just this," Hexa glared suspiciously. "If there's something between you and McDuck then you have two options." "Either you should leave," "Or you leave and take McDuck with you." Castandra and Winnicent finished for their sister. "Exactly." Hexa continued. "We may not always get along but Magica _is_ our sister; therefore, we will not stand for anyone trying to ruin her happiness." Castandra nodded. "After she seems to be happy with McDuck. Really, we're only telling you this to spare you the wrath of a witch scorned."

Goldie laughed. "Okay, stand down ladies. I have no intentions of running away with the groom. Actually, I only came as a friend to offer my congratulations to the happy couple." The DeSpell sisters' expressions softened. "Scrooge and I had a thing once, a long time ago, but I think it's safe to say that we both realized we aren't really as suited to one another as we thought." Goldie explained. The three sisters nodded and decided to accept Goldie's explanation and the four began discussing other topics.

Scrooge, after not finding her inside, decided to look for Magica outside, wondering why he was hoping she hadn't left despite knowing the most likely reason. He found her outside, leaning against the wall and staring at the full moon as it shone in all its glory over Duckburg in the crystal-clear sky. If it wasn't for the brightness of the moon he wouldn't have noticed it; the single tiny tear falling down her cheek.

"Magica?" She startled at the sound of his voice and quickly wiped the tear away before turning to face him completely. "Yes what? Is this stupid charade over now?" She asked, unable to keep from sounding slightly disappointed. "No, not yet. Are you okay? Why are you out here crying?" He asked, not giving a second thought to the concern in his tone or the thoughts of one of her sisters having said or done something to upset her while he was dancing with Goldie. Magica couldn't believe it, he'd seen her crying… and was genuinely concerned. "It's nothing! I'm fine. I guess we should go back in there and set this straight." She started to go back inside but a hand gently grabbing her arm stopped her. "Magica, tears are not something I see from you, _ever_. Do you want to talk about it before we go back inside?" Scrooge surprised himself again with his desire to comfort Magica. What was the matter with him? Was he really developing feelings for her?

Magica couldn't tell him, she knew that. She couldn't tell him the reason for the tear; that she actually had feelings for him and the knowledge of just how stupid that was had caused her to shed a tear. She felt stupid for that alone, that the whole thing had gotten to her enough to make her cry. "Magica?" His voice pulled her from her thoughts. "I'm fine okay? There's nothing to be concerned about." She said firmly, crossing her arms. Her eyes betrayed her though, he could see there was something bothering her just by looking into them.

Much as she tried to hide it there was a sadness in her eyes, something he hadn't ever seen there before; yes, he'd seen disappointment when she failed to obtain his dime, even fear when one of schemes backfired so badly they'd had to work together to fix it, but never sadness. Scrooge found himself looking into those eyes; dark and deep and uncharacteristically sad, trying to figure out what she wasn't telling him. Magica couldn't help but notice him gazing deeply into her eyes and it both unsettled her and gave her a strange thrill to know that he was concerned and clearly fixated on her at the moment. For second it seemed like they were drawing closer to one another, like something was about to happen; and then it did.

' _Love is an open dooooor!_ ' The lyrics came flooding out from inside the banquet hall and Magica groaned, dropping her head back to stare up at the sky. "I _hate_ this song!" Scrooge couldn't help snickering at her over-dramatic reaction. Suddenly, the music stopped and was replaced with screams. "What in blazes?" Scrooge exclaimed as he and Magica quickly exchanged worried glances before running back inside to see total chaos beyond anything they'd dealt with so far unfolding.


	6. A waking nightmare

Inside they saw everyone; the triplets, Donald, Daisy, Launchpad, Mrs. Beakley, Duckworth, Goldie, Webby, Lena, Minima, the DeSpell sisters and Granny DeSpell all locked in cages suspended from the ceiling; and for some reason Brigitta was now present and locked up as well. "I'm so sorry Scrooge!" She cried when she saw him. There was a large hole in the back wall and in the center of the room stood Flintheart Glomgold and Rosolio, who was wearing a deep red velvet robe with magical symbols embroidered all over it and a golden sash tied around his plump waist. His top hat was gone and in its place; a leather cap the same color as the robe. On his face he wore a very dark scowl, an expression very unlike him, even when he was angry.

"Rosolio WHAT are you doing!?" Magica demanded. When he cackled the sound was chilling and when he spoke the voice that came from his mouth wasn't his own. "This 'Rosolio' has become my vessel until I regain my true physical form!" It boomed. That was when Magica noticed the medallion around his neck. A large golden disc with a magical symbol engraved on the center with ancient text surrounding it. She couldn't read it all but what little she could scared her. "Who are you then?" Scrooge asked. "I am Haguk the all-powerful and now that I've finally been released from prison of centuries past I will rule this pathetic world." "Glomgold you fool! What have you done?!" Magica screeched at Glomgold who stood proudly beside the possessed goose. "I just thought I was giving him a power boost but it turns out I gained a better ally! As soon as that idiot put on the medallion Haguk took over! And Ms. MacBridge was kind enough to volunteer to be my hostage, although now it looks like I have hostages to spare ha-ha!" Glomgold laughed manically.

Scrooge noticed Magica seemed very concerned about the situation but what worried him was that ALL the DeSpells seemed very worried. "Magica," He whispered to her. "Is there something I should about this?" "I don't know much but what I do know is that Haguk is exactly what he says he is and he is corrupted beyond any sort of salvation by his power. He is _very_ dangerous." Suddenly Haguk's deep voice boomed again, this time chanting a spell. A magical energy manifested itself and swirled around Granny DeSpell who started to scream and writhe at its touch. "Granny!" Her granddaughters cried out in unison until one by one it enveloped Hexa, Castandra, Winnicent, Minima, and Lena causing all of them to scream and writhe around in some sort of pain.

"What are you doing to them!" Magica cried as she watched the horrific scene before her. "You will find out soon enough." Haguk responded coldly. Webby begged him to leave her friend alone while the others cringed and Brigitta began to cry and repeatedly apologize for her part in this disaster. Then the magical energy left the other DeSpells and slowly creeped toward Magica. She backed away from it, true fear in her eyes as she moved behind Scrooge, not really using him a shield, but this time looking for protection despite knowing he couldn't stop it.

She frantically tried to recite spells to stop the magical energy or protect herself but nothing was stopping the menacing fog. Then she heard Castandra's weak voice. "Run Magica!... Get away… before it gets you… too!" Before Magica could heed her sister's words the energy enveloped her and she immediately realized what was happening and why it was so terrifying and painful. The magical energy was like a powerful magnet, forcefully draining her of all her power. Once it had done it's job the magical energy returned to Haguk and his medallion glowed brightly with the stolen power. Magica was now on her knees and trembling from what she'd just experienced and the fear of the new feeling washing over her; helplessness.

"Magica! Are you okay? What did he do to you?" Scrooge asked, now on his knees beside her, taking her hands in his as he noticed her trembling. "H-he took my power…" She said, feeling so weak she thought she might faint as the rest of her family had. Haguk cackled, his voiced seeming even louder and more booming than before. "I feel the power coursing through me and my strength growing!" "That's great; now on to more important matters! Let's get rid of Scrooge McDuck so _I_ can take his money and be the richest duck in the world!" Glomgold cackled. Haguk merely laughed in his face. "You truly think I care about your pathetic whims?" Glomgold shank back a bit as Haguk leered at him. "Well your vessel and I made a bargain!" "HA!" Haguk laughed and with a mere wag of his finger Glomgold was in a cage just like the others. "I made no such bargain! But…" He said slowly, grabbing one of the bars of the cage as he studied Glomgold who was trying not to look scared. "I could still make use of you." Glomgold swallowed hard. "Uh, how can I help you?" "You can scrub my floors ha! ha!" Haguk laughed as he shoved the cage back, causing it to swing violently. Glomgold screamed as he fell on his tail feathers, balance lost to him due to the violent swinging of the cage.

"Well, I have all I need to begin restoring my body. Now I just need a place to conduct my work." Haguk looked through the hole in the wall that he and Glomgold had entered through and his eyes fixed on Scrooge's money bin. "It's no tower but it should do nicely." He smirked evilly and with a wave of his hand and a few words he, and all the cages with their prisoners, were gone. Scrooge helped Magica up and they watched as Haguk's magic enveloped the money bin and transformed it into a tall, imposing, medieval tower. "My money bin… My family…" Scrooge looked on helplessly at the living nightmare unfolding before him.


	7. The darkest hour

Scrooge and Magica slowly made their way back to McDuck manor, Magica leaning on Scrooge for support as the magic Haguk had used left her body weak and she was honestly amazed that she had the strength to walk. The walk was agonizingly slow and silent. Magica didn't really have the strength to talk and Scrooge just didn't want to say anything, couldn't say anything really; his family and friends were trapped in the clutches of some mad magician with terrifyingly strong magic and he felt just as helpless as the day Della was lost. What could he possibly do to stop this madness; by himself? His fortune being gone at the moment was of little concern in the grand scheme of things; he'd learned that the hard way with Della, money was easily replaced but those dearest to him could never be replaced.

When they arrived at his mansion it felt cold and empty; it reminded Scrooge too much of those dark days he'd spent there alone, sulking and brooding over his abandonment by his family, except this time it was even more suffocating because everyone hadn't just walked away on their own, they'd been taken and there hadn't been a thing he could do about it. He was honestly just lucky that Haguk hadn't captured himself and Magica although if this was to be the end then they should be in that horrible tower with everyone else; instead they were alone in the big empty mansion.

They entered Scrooge's room and Magica lay on her pile of pillows while Scrooge stared out his window. The silence dragged on for what felt like hours before either of them said anything. "This is all your fault." Magica heard Scrooge's quivering voice say finally. "If you hadn't lied to that dimwit and caused all of this my family would be safe right now!" His voice grew louder and his tone harsher with every word. "This the worst screw up you've ever made DeSpell!" "Don't you dare take this out on me! I didn't go bringing Glomgold into this and I _certainly_ didn't have a thing to do with that stupid medallion or that Warlock!" She spat back at Scrooge. He stayed silent, never turning away from the window. "I'm a victim in this too, and so is _my_ family!" "I doubt you care too much about them, you've all made that pretty clear." He responded, still facing the window but voice and tone calmed. "I know we don't always get along but… they are my sisters… and granny…the truth is, I love my family too, as obnoxious as they can be!"

Again, there was silence, Scrooge still had his back to her, looking out the window as clouds crept across the sky, hiding the moon from view. "So, you won't even look at me now because you blame me for all of this? Fine. I'm too exhausted to fight with you right now anyway." Magica had started to roll over to try to sleep when she heard a soft sound. She sat up and listened, hearing it again she realized what she was hearing; Scrooge was sniffling. "Scrooge…?" She asked softly, almost unsure if she really wanted him to respond. When he didn't she decided to muster up what little strength she had left and slowly walked over to him.

Scrooge jumped when he felt her hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her and she saw it; his eyes were welled up, tear streaks trailed down his face. "Scrooge; You never…" She trailed off, unable to find words as Scrooge McDuck was never the type to shed tears; even when injured he'd just get back up and laugh it off. Of course, this was far worse than any physical injury. "I've lost everything… they're all gone and I can't do a darned thing about it…" He wiped his face. "And now I guess whatever dignity I had left is gone too…" He looked her in the eye and saw that she too, had tears forming at the edges of her tired eyes. "We both have Scroogie…" She tried to chuckled a bit at the irony of the situation, to lighten the mood even a little bit but both of their hearts were too heavy to be lifted.

In that moment of shared grief Scrooge felt his anger melt away and with it his energy; everything had left him almost as drained as Magica and as they stood there, wiping tears from their eyes, he realized that neither of them was truly alone; they were still standing there with each other, whatever consolation that was.

"Scrooge…" Magica started. "I… am truly sorry about all of this, I know that probably doesn't mean much now but…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry too." He said. "This isn't entirely your fault and you are as much a victim here as I am." His voice was soft and broken. She could hear nothing but heartbreak in his voice now. Then, he hugged her; gently and yet if felt as though he was using her as an anchor of sorts, to keep from losing himself in the sea of grief they'd found themselves adrift in. She hugged him back, silently accepting the comforting gesture because she needed it as much as he did in that moment.

When they let go of each other she returned to her pile of pillows. "I wish I could say 'goodnight' but this isn't a very good night." She said. He smiled sadly. "No, it isn't." He looked at his bed and as tired as he was it just felt, almost wrong to be able to return to his bed and sleep while his family was being put through who knows what by Haguk. Scrooge knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, no matter how much he needed to. "Scrooge… you should rest." Magica looked up at him. "I can't…" He looked toward the window again and yawned. "I feel exhausted, likely not as much as you, but knowing that they're up there and I can't do anything… How can I even think of sleeping?" "Because, if you don't then you truly won't be able to help them. I know you well enough to know that you will think of something but not if your brain is sleep deprived."

Scrooge turned around and looked at her. "You really think I can do something about this?" Magica nodded. "Yes, I do. After all, you're Scrooge McDuck. You don't give up, you're too stubborn for that." She chuckled softly before yawning herself. "But that will get you nowhere if you don't rest." He smiled a little. "Thanks…" Magica then closed her eyes and drifted off. Scrooge yawned again and decided he would at least try to get some sleep.


	8. Rallying allies and planning a rescue

The next morning Magica was awoken by something poking her head and voice in her ear. "Magica! Magica wake up!" She opened her eyes to see Poe, pecking her head and cawing in her ear. "Poe!" She grabbed her brother in a crushing hug, relieved to see that at least was still there. "Ugh, Magica!" Poe wriggled free of her grip. "Magica where is everybody? Where's Lena?" Magica looked down sadly. "They've all been taken Poe… by the warlock Haguk… he took my powers too." "Oh no! This is horrible! I'll never see my little girl again! Nevermore!" Poe cawed sadly.

"What is that noise?" A groggy voice asked. Magica looked beside her and saw something surprising; Scrooge was huddled up beside her in the pillow pile. "It's Poe." She said as his eyes slowly opened. "Scrooge? What are you doing down here?" Poe asked. "I…" He yawned. "Was sleeping." "Yes, next to me." Magica teased. He scowled and looked at Poe. "I'd forgotten about you. You stayed here last night so you didn't witness or fall victim to the catastrophe that Glomgold unleashed." He got up and headed to his closet to change out his slept-in suit. Magica decided to follow suit and opened her suitcase, shooed Poe out, and changed out of her party dress.

The three reconvened in the kitchen where Magica and Scrooge put together some breakfast, dry cereal and milk. "So, what are we gonna do?" Poe asked. "I honestly don't know." Scrooge said between spoonfuls of cereal. "Without Magica's magic I don't know what we can do against Haguk." Magica sighed. "It's true; the best way to fight magic is with magic and I can't use any right now." "I wish I could use mine but in this form I can't." Poe said. They sat quietly for several minutes until Scrooge finished his cereal and had a thought cross his mind. "Say, Magica… Why is it you're always after my dime anyway?"

Magica shot him a look that said she wanted to slap him at that moment. "WHY are you asking about that right now?" "Just answer the question-with a straight answer for once. You're always giving a different reason now I want to know the truth." Magica sighed and began to explain. "You want the full story? Hear it is: The grand high witch council tasked me with collecting certain coins from the worlds wealthiest people to melt down into an amulet, as my right of passage to put it simply."

He nodded. "Go on." "Well of course, the amulet would grant the Midas touch and possibly enable me to return my brother to normal." He looked at her skeptically. "And how's that?" "Because; the coins actually _are_ the amulet, or rather they _were_ the amulet. The amulet originally belonged to a powerful mage ages ago and was lost when the mage decided to melt it down to prevent others from stealing it." "You've never told me this story before." She shrugged. "I'm technically not supposed to tell anyone this but what do I care now? Anyway, the amulet was made of silver imbued with the mage's power, tales say it was what originally _gave_ King Midas the golden touch and that it was once stolen by Morgan Le Fay… and I have managed to collect all the fragments except one… Your dime. It is the last piece of silver from the amulet." "So, then my dime is magical…?" Magica could practically hear the wheels turning in Scrooge's head as he processed what she told him. "No. Not by itself at least. If it was reunited with the rest of the amulet it would be like… putting a battery in a flashlight so to speak."

Scrooge thought carefully about it before speaking again. "Would you be able to use the power of this amulet in your current state?" Suddenly Magica caught on to what Scrooge was getting at. "Are you… talking about giving me your dime?" " _Lending_ you my dime. In exchange for your help; IF you can use it that is." Magica was stunned; She could actually complete the amulet, she had a real chance to finally attain the goal she'd spent so many years working for. But she knew she couldn't just take the dime and run… her family needed her, they needed her more than she needed that stupid coin and she knew that was exactly why Scrooge was making her this offer; his family needed him more than he needed the stupid coin. "I… Don't really know if I can, I could try but I would need to get the rest of the amulet from… my hut."

As she spoke she remembered that the rest of the amulet was back on Mt. Vesuvius and without magic it would take far too long to get there. Magica slumped in her chair, looking defeated. "Hmm… That is a problem; but we may not be out of luck yet…" He trailed off as he left the room. Poe perched on Magica's shoulder and they sat quietly while they waited for Scrooge to return.

When he came back Scrooge had his number one hanging from his neck and book under his arm. "What is that?" Magica asked. "I was actually hoping you could tell me." He said, putting the book down on the table before her. "I can't read the blasted thing so I don't really know what it is." She carefully opened the book, an old leather-bound tome with brittle yellow pages, and gently flipped through the pages. As her eyes scanned the words on the pages she realized with astonishment what was in front of her. "This is… the spell book of mage who created the amulet!" She showed Scrooge the page with a drawing of the amulet; the level of detail was stunning and Scrooge could only imagine what the actual thing itself would look like in person.

Magica continued to flip through the pages after a moment and gasped. "What? What did you find?" Scrooge asked. "A recipe for a potion… after cooking in your kitchen I think we have everything I need to brew it and if it works then we have a bright ray of hope yet!" She exclaimed as she quickly set about digging through Scrooge's kitchen pantry for ingredients. After she finished scouring the kitchen Magica searched her sister's and grandmother's rooms, the bathrooms and even Donald's house boat and managed to come up with everything she needed and threw it all into a large pot of boiling water she'd setup on the stove in accordance with the recipe while Scrooge and Poe watched. "Brewing potions is a little different from casting spells…" She said as she stirred her brew. "It's the combining of the ingredients to take advantage of their unique properties that is key; I don't need my magic to brew a potion… there, it's done."

She took a ladle and scooped the brew into a cup. "Drink this Poe." "Why?" He eyed the brew suspiciously. "Just drink it, please… I just know it's going to work." He could see the sincerity in his sister's eyes and decided to do as instructed and drink the brew. Once he'd finished every last drop he felt a little strange. Magica watched him and hoped, even silently prayed, that it would work. Then Poe began to transform, in a matter of seconds there was no longer a raven but instead a tall duck with hair the color of the black feathers he once had and eyes as dark as Magica's standing there, having grabbed the tablecloth to cover himself.

"Oh Poe! It worked! You're yourself again!" Magica happily flung her arms around her brother. "Wow! I am, I really am normal again!" He laughed. Scrooge looked at the recipe Magica used and read her translation notes of the page. "'Spell cancelling potion; for when your spellbound without a fix.' Well I'll be." Poe pulled out of his sister's hug. "Uh, if you don't mind I think I should go make myself decent." He said sheepishly. Magica laughed. "That would be a good idea." Poe left the kitchen and Magica turned to Scrooge. "Thank you, Scrooge." Scrooge looked confused. "For what?" Magica threw her arms around him. "For letting me read and use that book, for letting me use your kitchen… for helping me get my brother back; I could just kiss you right now!" She exclaimed. "Uh… well you're welcome…" Scrooge blushed a bit and found himself wondering if she was serious or just joking. She looked him in the face. "Don't you understand? With Poe's help we have a real chance now. If I can't use the amulet _he_ can." "You're right," Scrooge now realized where Magica's mind was going. "He didn't have his powers taken so he can still use magic!" "Exactly!" "Am I interrupting a moment here?"

Poe stood in the doorway with teasing grin wearing blue jeans, a white shirt with a grey sport coat and blue leather shoes. "I hope you don't mind that I took a couple things from your closet and used my magic to tailor them Scroogie." "Uh, not at all." Scrooge and Magica pulled apart.

"So, what's our plan now?" Poe asked, sitting down at the table and pouring himself some cereal. "My word, it feels so good to eat with utensils again!" He said after two spoonfuls. Scrooge and Magica sat down. "We need to get to my hut on Mt. Vesuvius. Do you think you can do that Poe?" Magica asked. "Most likely; I mean, I haven't used my magic in a long time but it's like riding a bike isn't it?" He said as he finished his cereal. Poe stood up, placed his cereal bowl and spoon in the sink then instructed Scrooge and Magica to stand close while he recited a travel spell. Instantly they were at Magica's hut on Mt. Vesuvius. Magica grabbed the amulet and with the same spell Poe brought them back to Scrooge's manor.

"So now we need my dime?" Scrooge asked. "Yes." Magica nodded. Scrooge looked at the silver amulet she held, the intricate design even more breathtaking in person. "You get your dime while Poe and I prepare the amulet." Magica instructed. Scrooge eyed her suspiciously. "You're still intent on melting it down?" Magica made no attempt to hide her surprise. "Your family is in grave danger; this amulet may be our best chance to save them and you're still worried about the _dime_?!" He shrugged sheepishly. "Not really; but if there's ma chance I could get it back if we're successful…" Magica just rolled her eyes and shook her head; a slight amused smile on her beak. "Fool… Just go get the darn thing." She chuckled as she and Poe began preparing the amulet.

A few moments later Scrooge returned with his number one and saw the prepared amulet on his kitchen counter. The intricate design had been altered to one with a dime-sized hole in the center. "We should be able to pop it back out after we clean up this mess." Magica said. Scrooge nodded and gingerly placed the dime in the hole. The amulet seemed to shine a little brighter and Magica's eyes widened. "At long last… after so many years it's finally finished." She half whispered in awe. "Does it actually work?" Scrooge couldn't help asking. Magica said nothing, taking the amulet carefully in her hands and chanting a spell; trying to focus the energy of the amulet and hoping that she would be able to do it. After a moment the refrigerator door opened and a pitcher of iced tea floated out and toward the counter… only fall on Scrooge's head. Magica and Poe tried not to laugh at his sour expression, tea dripping from his scowling beak and top hat. "Okay so it's not perfect or very strong but I _can_ do it." Magica said, still trying to contain her grin. "Here, let me help you." Poe said, chanted a spell and Scrooge was once again clean and dry. "Thanks. Now the three of us by ourselves won't be enough… we need more help and I know just who to ask." Scrooge grinned confidently.

A couple phone calls and about fifteen minutes later Gyro Gearloose and Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera were at McDuck Mansion, in Scrooge's home office, and exchanging stories with Scrooge, Magica and Poe. "We saw the magical business going on at your money bin and investigated." Gyro explained after the others told him about Haguk. "There's all kinds of creepy spectre-like guys in robes hanging around outside the money bin." Fenton added. "Haguk's minions no doubt." Magica said, then looked at Scrooge. "So, what do you have in mind?" "Well I think we should go in _without_ magic; at first." He said thoughtfully. "Why?" Poe asked. "Because then we have the element of surprise. He thinks he's rendered me powerless and that we pose no threat…" Magica added, having a feeling she knew what Scrooge might be thinking. "Precisely. Although, you might as well still be powerless, you're barely able to use the amulet right now." Magica just scoffed. "In any case," Scrooge continued. "We can't go in there unarmed, we need some sort of protection or weapon." "Ah, your old anti-witch defense systems perhaps?" Gyro raised a knowing eyebrow, seeing why Scrooge had called him. "Yes, that would be helpful, and anything else you've got that might help." Scrooge nodded. "Okay, for starters Fenton will help you use one of my drones to get a look inside and see what's going on and help you get a lay of the land inside." Gyro took a small drone from his pocket and handed it to Fenton. "Don't break it." Fenton nodded. "Of course, I won't!" He said, pulling out his phone and connecting it to the drone. "I'll be back, I need to get the equipment from home lab." Gyro said as he walked out of the room.


	9. Meanwhile, in the tower

Everyone sat in their cages, watching Haguk cast his spells, creating shadowy figures in dark cloaks and sending them out of the tower that was once Scrooge's money bin throughout the night. Now Haguk wasn't in the room, likely still sleeping somewhere else in the tower. The room was dark cold, the only light from narrow windows in the stone walls, candle sticks on the walls and the large glowing symbol Haguk had drawn in the center of the room. Nobody knew what he was planning but they all knew they wished they weren't going find out.

"Doesn't anybody have any ideas for how we can get out of here?" Webby asked, while testing every inch of her cage. "I've tried all I can think of." Mrs. Beakley responded, letting go of the bar she'd tried to force. "Maybe if I use my head…" Launchpad said, backing up as far as he could before ramming, head-first, into on side of the cage. The bars dented, but then glowed and returned to their original state. "Ow…"

Launchpad rubbed his head. "I guess using my head didn't work." Glomgold just laughed. "Idiot! We're not getting outta here anytime soon!" "This is all your fault Glomgold! You and that lame-brain Goose!" Hexa spat. "She's right, this is all on you, you fink!" Brigitta agreed. "I've tried and tried but the problem, as Mr. McQuack just demonstrated, is that these magical cages just regenerate every time they bend in the slightest." Goldie said, flicking a bar. "There just isn't anyway out unless one of you witchy sisters can magic a way out." Castandra sighed. "I wish we could, but he stole our magic so none of us can."

"Maybe Uncle Scrooge can figure somethi-" Huey started hopefully before Dewey cut him off. "All by himself? I don't think even Uncle Scrooge can do anything about this." Donald nodded sadly. "He's right." "Donald…" Daisy looked at him sadly, wishing she could reach him to comfort him. Winnicent nodded as well. "I highly doubt Magica would help; she's likely left, since she could." Hexa hung her head. "Who would blame her? It isn't as though we've done her any favors… we've been so hard on her and even _I_ wouldn't disagree that we deserve to be left here for whatever Haguk's purposes are." "Stop speaking such nonsense!" Granny DeSpell chided. "Nobody deserves whatever this old relic wants us for!"

"Hey guys, look over there!" Lena pointed toward one of the narrow windows. Louie looked over and saw the little thing hovering in the air. "It's one of Gyro's drones guys!" He exclaimed. As the little drone flew closer they could all hear the soft buzzing of its tiny propellers. It flew around each cage as if checking to see that everyone was still there and okay. "It's gotta be Uncle Scrooge!" Huey cried hopefully, waiving like mad at the drone. "Hey Uncle Scrooge! If you can hear me we're all okay but these magical cages can't be opened without magic." Lena waived at the drone and pointed to the glowing symbol on the floor. "If you can hear us, I don't know what that is but I think he's planning to use it on us. Hopefully Aunt Magica didn't bail on us, she might know what that symbol is… I think we glossed over it in one of the magic books for my lessons." After a few more moments of buzzing around the drone flew back out the window.


	10. Infiltrating the tower

"Oh no…" Magica gasped as they saw the symbol through Fenton's phone screen. "What is it?" Scrooge asked. "He's going to drain their lifeforce to restore his own! We're lucky he's so weak that needs to rest awhile before casting his infernal spell, but we've got to hurry or there won't be anyone left to save!" She started to go for the door but Scrooge stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "We have to wait for Gyro; we need whatever he has that can help us get to them." Poe nodded. "He's right, I know you're panicking but if we rush in unprepared we won't stand a chance." Magica sighed. "You're right…" Fenton noted the atmosphere around McDuck and DeSpell but kept quiet, he knew when to button his beak and now was not the time to test either one's temper.

After a few more minutes Gyro came in with a duffle bag of supplies. "Okay; I tried to modify what I could as quickly as possible." He started as he spread several items out on the desk. He pointed to each item while giving descriptions of each. "These pins are equipped with the anti-magic barrier technology; these lasers are anti-magic counter rays; they should hopefully counter most spells."

"How exactly would those work?" Magica asked. "Well, after studying video footage of some of your bouts with Mr. McDuck as well as some magical texts I figured out a way to counter balance magical energy with electric energy to cancel out some magic spells. They're not too thoroughly tested though." Gyro explained before returning to the rest. "Now I have here two small drones, slightly bigger than what you were using before, both are equipped with holographic projectors and low lever lasers, think stun guns." He explained. "You can use the drones to scout ahead and for defensive purposes." Then he pulled two belts from the bag. "And finally, we have the belts that allow you to carry all these things."

Scrooge nodded. "Okay. That should do it. Thank you, Gyro." "Of course, Mr. McDuck. Oh, one more thing, here." He handed them each a small rod, each about ten inches in length. "What are these?" Magica asked. "Press the hidden button on the side." Gyro pointed to a small button that was almost invisible. Magica pushed the button and the rod extended to almost five feet in length. "You never know when a rod might come in handy. Testing for booby traps, as a basic melee weapon, to aid in long jumps, the possibilities are endless really. Sometimes the simplest tools are the most important and useful." Magica nodded. "Thank you."

"Gyro, can you and Fenton distract the spectres outside so we can get in?" Scrooge asked. "Mr. McDuck, don't insult me; of course, we can." Gyro grinned confidently and strode out of the room. "This is a job for Gizmoduck!" Fenton exclaimed before uttering his phrase to activate the Gizmoduck suit. "Blatherin' Blatherskite!" In a flash the suit appeared and incased him, turning him into Gizmoduck. "Between myself and Dr. Gearloose we should be able to buy you plenty of time to infiltrate the enemy stronghold." He said, now speaking in his Gizmoduck voice. Then he remembered Magica and Poe were in the room and had just seen him don the suit. "Don't worry about us Giz; we have more important things to worry about than what's under your visor." Poe said. Magica shrugged. "Why should I care who or what you are? I only care that you're going to help us." Gizmoduck looked at Scrooge for confirmation he could believe the DeSpell twins. "Don't worry about them, they won't give away your secret." Scrooge said with a nod. With that Gizmoduck left to join Gyro in distracting Haguk's minions.

"Well we should be on our way too." Scrooge said. "What's the plan?" Poe asked. "After all, you said we go in without magic to start so where does that leave me?" "Simple; you're our ace in the hole. Keep yourself hidden and get close enough to use your magic against Haguk when the moment is right. Do you think you could seal him back in the medallion?" Poe stood quiet for a moment as he thought about it. "I could try, no guarantees of success though. However, there is one thing we should discuss about that first…"

He looked at Magica. "There's no way to know if you and the others will get your magic back once Haguk is sealed away again; I don't know how he took it so I don't know that I could undo what he did. Will you be okay with that?" Magica's eyes reflected her uncertainty as she thought about her brother's words before resolve settled back into her expression. "I'll deal with it somehow. At least I won't have to hear about being 'soft' or a 'failure' anymore; especially if they're in the same boat and left with no room to talk." She laughed a bit, clearly attempting to reassure herself.

Poe looked at his sister sympathetically and Scrooge found himself impressed with her at that moment; she was willing to sacrifice something that was such a big part of who she was if that's what it took stop this madness and save her family. They truly were more alike than he'd ever realized. She just hid her sappier emotions far better than he ever could.

With their plan of attack decided they set off for the tower; Poe using his magic to return to raven form and make himself invisible so that he could get to the tower unnoticed and wait for Scrooge and Magica to begin distracting Haguk. That was really all they could do, keep Haguk busy until Poe had an opportunity to act; without Magica's magic they really only had defensive tactics on their side and no way to actually fight back.

Pushing any uneasiness and doubts to the side Scrooge and Magica quickly made their way to the tower. Gyro, his Little Bulb, Manny the sentient horse-statue-thing and Gizmoduck were fighting the dozen or so hooded spectres that guarded the tower. Each time a spectre went down it just regenerated and returned to the fray. Scrooge and Magica threw a few kicks and punches themselves as they rushed past the battle zone. Just as they were about to enter the tower a pair of spectres, large both in rotund belly and almost eight-foot height, appeared between them and the door. They tried to fight them off; Scrooge knocked one on his butt with a swift sweeping kick and was about to open the large wooden door when he heard a shriek behind him. "Put me down!" The other large spectre guard had managed to grab Magica by one of her legs and was holding her upside down while she simultaneously tried to free herself and hold the skirt of her dress up. She kicked him in the face but he still didn't let her go.

"Hang in there!" Scrooge called as he rushed to her aid. "Like I can do anything else right now." She deadpanned. The first guard hadn't fully regenerated yet so Scrooge made use of his gut by bouncing on him like a trampoline to land a right hook in the face of the one holding Magica, who at that point, finally released her. As she began to plummet to the ground she screamed but her scream was abruptly cut off as she felt someone catch her. She looked up into the face of Scrooge statue head of the man-horse-thing. "Eek!" She jumped away from Manny with a start. Scrooge chuckled behind her. "Are you okay?" "That thing is extremely unsettling you know." She said as Manny rushed back to help the others. "I know." Scrooge replied. "Now let's get in there and put that ancient warlock back in his place." Magica nodded and they ran into the tower.

Once inside they carefully and quickly made their way up the steep spiraling stone stair case running along the tower wall. Just as they reached the final landing another set of spectre guards appeared and attempted to knock them off the stairs with their staves. Scrooge and Magica pulled out the rods Gyro gave them and used them to fight off the guards. They clashed staves and rods several times like a great sword fight for several minutes before one guard swung at Magica and knocked her off her balance. Just as looked like Magica was going to tumble back down the stairs she made her move, revealing she'd let the guard knock her back on purpose; She rammed her rod into the ground behind her and with a mighty shove reversed her course and slammed her foot into the guard, sending him sailing into the air and off the landing.

"Aaaahhhh!" Scrooge's scream echoed in the tower as Magica looked over and saw the other guard had knocked him off the landing and, as he desperately clung to the edge, the guard smashed his fingers with his foot and Scrooge fell from view. "SCROOGE!" Magica cried, rushing the guard with her rod and sent him flailing into the darkness below with his companion. With the guard out of the way she stood shaking, fearing the worst; the tower was taller than the money bin and with only candles along the walls for lighting the darkness swallowed everything below where she stood. There was no way Scrooge could have survived that fall.

Magica was left to finish the fight by herself, just her and Poe. She stood alone in the silent darkness panicking; wondering how she would do this without Scrooge's help, what she would say to his family, when she was scared out of her wits by a voice below her. "MAGICA! Help me!" "Scrooge?" She immediately took one of the candles from the wall by the door and sunk to her knees, looking down. Just a little over a foot below the landing Scrooge has hanging on for dear life to his rod, which he'd managed to jam into a crack in the wall to save himself from falling to the ground below. "Oh, thank goodness you're alive!" Magica sighed in relief. "I won't be much longer if you don't help me!" He barked. "Right." Magica extended her rod and held it out to Scrooge who grabbed it. Once she had pulled him back up on to the landing he looked down. "Well, that's another hat lost." He said, placing a hand on his now hatless head. "At least it was just your hat." Magica said, relief still all over her face. Scrooge grinned teasingly. "You were really worried about me, weren't you?" Her face flushed a bit. "Oh, don't flatter yourself." He snickered a bit. "Well thank you for saving me... and for your concern Magica." She turned to the door. "Come on you fool, let's keep going; Poe is waiting."


	11. The final confrontation

On the other side of the door was a hallway at the end of which was a large door, the door that led to the room where Haguk was holding the others. Off the left of the large door was a small staircase that led to another door. On the right was a final door, behind which could be heard snoring that rumbled like thunder. "That must be were Haguk is resting." Magica said, eyeing the door. "What was your first clue?" Scrooge asked sarcastically. "That's not Haguk; that's Rosolio's snoring." Magica snickered. They snuck quietly to the end of the hall and tip toed up the staircase to the left and opened the door at the top. It led to a small storage room with two narrow window slits letting in a little light from outside and on the inside wall. Magica looked through the one on the inside wall and saw that it looked out into the room with the cages.

"I see everyone, they seem to still be okay." She whispered to Scrooge. "Good. Let's get setup." Scrooge took the anti-magic barrier pin from his belt and pinned it to his lapel, Magica followed suit, pinning hers to her dress. They activated their pins. "Hopefully this will keep us hidden from Haguk." He said, pulling out the smartphone-like remotes for the drones and began flying them into the other room. "Here, you control one." He handed a remote to Magica. She fumbled with the drone for a moment before getting a shaky handle on it. Scrooge activated the projector in his drone when he was satisfied that the drone was a decently hidden spot.

"Is everyone alright?" Everyone startled and looked toward the door and saw Scrooge standing there. "Uncle Scrooge!" Huey, Dewey, and Louie cried happily. "Mr. McDuck! How'd you get in here?" Mrs. Beakley asked. "That's not important; what is important is that I'm here and I'm going to find a way to deal with that magical relic." He said, trying to comfort his family. "So, did Magica take off?" Winnicent asked. "I wouldn't be surprised if she left us here." Hexa said. Both of them sounded somewhat sad.

"Oh, Give me a little more credit than that." Magica said, walking up behind Scrooge. "Aunt Magica!" Lena and Minima both chirped. "Y-you came to help us?" Castandra stammered in surprise. "Well of course I did. Don't sound so excited." Magica responded. "You're my family after all. Even if you're just a bunch of troublemakers." Mrs. Beakley chuckled. "So, I guess the witch has a heart after all." Magica just rolled her eyes and turned to Scrooge. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind." Scrooge nodded. "Right. Well first we need to get Haguk in here." He said, then looked at everyone. "I want you all to make a ruckus and lure Haguk." He instructed. Hexa looked at him like he was crazy. "Have you lost your mind?" "We can't get you out of the cages until Haguk is dealt with so either help or be quiet." Magica snapped. Everyone nodded and began shaking and rattling their cages as much as they could and they hollered to be released; making as much racket as they could.

"SILENCE!" Haguk bellowed when he appeared in the room. Everyone became silent at that point as his voice thundered through the room. "Alright you, old windbag!" Scrooge barked. "I'm going to give one chance to let our families go before things have to get ugly." Haguk laughed. "You really think I'm frightened of you? Allow me to demonstrate why you're in no position to threaten me!" Haguk raised his hands and sent a magical beam at Scrooge. Everyone either gasped or screamed when it struck and raised a dust cloud where Scrooge stood. Haguk looked at Magica and did the same, another dust cloud. Haguk laughed and was about to gloat about how stupidly easy that was when suddenly a sound unfamiliar to him permeated the air. It sounded like it was supposed to be a rhythm or melody but it was like none he'd ever heard nor could he discern the source of the sound. Then the dust clouds cleared.

"Is that all you've got?" Scrooge, still standing before Haguk, unharmed, grinned smugly. "Really Scrooge? _This_ song?" Magica sighed, shaking her head. "This so cheesy." Scrooge shrugged. "If fits." He said, _Can't Touch This_ echoing through the room; punctuating the fact that Haguk's attacks had literally not touched either of them. "What sort of magic is this!?" Haguk demanded, confused and startled at the ineffectiveness of his magic. " _Modern_ magic Haguk!" Scrooge said as he and Magica proceeded to alternate between using the drones' lasers and the anti-magic lasers to fight Haguk and counter his magic attacks.

While Scrooge and Magica distracted Haguk; Poe had flown in through one of windows and carefully made his way behind Haguk, perched on a ledge near a candle. He waited several minutes more, watching the projections of his sister and Scrooge making a mockery of Haguk and confusing the ever-living of the ancient warlock with loud, semi-modern, music to mask the sound of his wings as he moved around the room to get into position. Poe returned to his normal self, then waited; when he saw his opening, he took it. Pulling the dime amulet from his pocket to enhance his power he recited his spell when the music stopped.

"Evil Warlock return to darkness from whence you came, to bother us again nevermore!" Poe chanted loudly as he held the amulet, which now glowed with a soft turquoise colored light. "Dad!" Lena shouted when she saw her father. "Poe?!" His sisters and grandmother gasped in surprise. "Hello all!" Poe called back before chanting his spell again. "No! No! NO!" Haguk cried as he, still possessing Rosolio, began to be sucked into the medallion around his neck.

"I think we actually did it!" Magica exclaimed, as it looked as though Haguk was finished. Then their celebration was ended before it could even begin. "Nononononono! Not ME!" Rosolio had managed to partially wrench control away from Haguk, enough to use his magic to knock Poe into the wall behind him, causing him to lose consciousness, stopping the spell.

"ROSOLIO! YOU MORON!" Magica howled, furious with him. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU DOLT!" Scrooge screeched, equally furious. They both yelled angrily at Rosolio for several minutes, tempers beyond lost.

"I don't believe this…" Goldie stared at the two of them as they shouted. "They are both essentially having a temper tantrum right now." She sighed and shook her head. "Like two peas in a temperamental pod." "That's it," Donald slumped down. "We're doomed!" He moaned defeatedly as he started scratching his will into the floor of his cage. Daisy just shook her head and sighed as she watched Donald.

"M-Magi-poo please! You know I love you and I'd do anything for you!" Rosolio whined, trying to calm Magica. "Oh really? You would do anything for me?" She glared at him angrily and he gulped. "Okay… well, maybe not _anything_ …" He said sheepishly. "You are the biggest pain in the tailfeathers I've ever met!" she screeched. "You've ruined our chance to end this nightmare you idiot!" Scrooge barked, also glaring angrily at Rosolio. "Oh, woe is me," Rosolio whined. "I guess nobody-" before he could continue lamenting no one caring what happened to him Haguk took back control of his body and laughed his thunderous laugh. "At least this pitiful vessel is useful to some degree." He cackled, then attacked them again with more magic. Haguk flung his magical beams in every direction, determined to hit at least one of them, and in doing so destroyed the wall and part of the floor of the room where Scrooge and Magica were hiding.

The holograms disappeared as the two tumbled into the room from their hiding place and the remotes were flung across the room.

Scrooge and Magica coughed as they got to their feet in the settling dust and realized what their situation now was. "Ah, phooey." Was all Magica could quietly mutter while Scrooge remained silent, desperately trying to think of a new plan.

Haguk cackled even more as he realized that he had only been dealing with some kind of phantoms and now his opponents truly stood before him with no more of their 'modern magic' to help them. He raised his hands and cast a lightning bolt in their direction.

Scrooge quickly grabbed Magica and jumped out of the way; hitting the floor with his arms around her. "Thanks." Magica forced herself to ignore whatever fluttery feelings the embrace caused. Then they heard Rosolio's voice force its way back out. "Get your hands off my Magi-poo!" Magica groaned in annoyance as she got back to her feet. "Really!? Rosolio, if I could turn _you_ into a toad believe me, I would! This is NOT the time for your stupid jealously!"

While she yelled at Rosolio the wheels in Scrooge's mind started to turn. A faint phantom image had begun to appear behind Rosolio as he fought to keep control of his body. Scrooge realized that the more Rosolio fought the more he pushed Haguk out; and Rosolio, it seemed, fought either to save his own skin or out of his affections for Magica. It looked as though a change of tactics was in order.

"Magica look behind him." Scrooge whispered. She followed his gaze and saw the hazy image behind Rosolio. "The idiot is actually forcing Haguk out!" She whispered back. "And we've got to keep him doing it." Scrooge replied. "Follow my lead." He made a dash for the nearest remote and maneuvered the drone it controlled onto the ledge that was once the room he and Magica projected from, he then wrapped an arm around Magica. "Don't worry sweetheart; I'll do everything in my power to protect you and get us all out of this mess." He spoke over-dramatically, laying it on real thick to anger Rosolio. Magica held back the urge to laugh at Scrooge's acting and played along, wrapping an arm around him as well. "Oh, of course you will Scroogie darling!"

"What in the world are they doing?" Hexa asked in complete confusion as she watched the scene unfolding below, Scrooge trying to play the hero and Magica… swooning? "Look at Rosolio, he's starting to turn red as a tomato!" Winnicent couldn't laughing a little at the red-faced goose. "That's _exactly_ what they're doing!" Castandra exclaimed. Granny DeSpell nodded. "Yes, look! Rosolio is forcing Haguk out! They're fighting Haguk with their awful acting!" Everyone continued to watch, almost holding their breath to hold back laughter, as Scrooge and Magica continued their horribly cheesy routine.

"Stop it, stop it, STOP IT!" Rosolio cried as they kept calling each other sickeningly sweet pet names like pookie, sugar lump, Scroogie-bear and Scrooge even used Rosolio's pet name 'Magi-poo' for good measure. They could tell that Rosolio couldn't do anything but yell as he fought for mobility so for the moment they were safe as Haguk clearly couldn't do anything himself so long as his focus was on fighting Rosolio for control so Scrooge decided to kick their routine up a notch. "Since our engagement party was so rudely crashed maybe we should take this chance for one more dance before things come to an end, just in case?" Scrooge asked, using the remote to setup a song to play through the drone's speaker. "Okay Scroogie-woogie, but this time _I'm_ choosing the song." Magica took the remote and set a song.

As ' _I Wanna Dance With Somebody_ ' began to echo throughout the room Scrooge and Magica danced to lively rhythm, making sure their movements kept them close to each other and only just ever so slightly suggestive; all while having a pretty good time ticking off both Rosolio and Haguk, who occasionally got a word or two out about how stupid the whole thing was before Rosolio resumed shouting and whining about it.

As the song ended and they stopped dancing all felt silent. Scrooge and Magica looked uneasily at Rosolio, who simply stood, with eyes cast down, now eerily quiet. "Rosolio?" Magica asked, not daring to move from her spot beside Scrooge. He looked at her, eyes welling up. "You really do prefer him to me?" Magica sighed angrily. "Is this really a good time to be so emotional?" she groaned. "Please just answer me Magica." He so often called her 'Magi-poo' or 'Il mio amore' that Magica knew he had to be serious if he used her actual name. She deliberated for a moment about her answer; then finally spoke. "Truthfully; yes." He nodded slowly. "I see. Well then, I shall stop fighting it and let it be." Rosolio said with resignation. If he had come to that conclusion even forty-eight hours before it would have been a great relief but at that very moment it sent a wave of panic through both Scrooge and Magica. "No, don't stop fighting now!" They both cried as Haguk's laughter rang out again.

"Mwuhahahaha! Now I will finish this!" He said, raising his hands and hurling a magical blast at Scrooge and Magica.


	12. A happy ending

The blast came so fast and there had been nowhere to run; Scrooge and Magica were struck head-on. Everyone cried out in horror at the sight before wincing and turning away; all hope faded out. As Haguk laughed he was again forced out by Rosolio, who resumed control of his body and wailed. "Oh Magi-poo NO! What have I done!" as he sunk to his knees.

As the dust settled the Magica coughed and gagged, pinned beneath something she struggled to get up. As she wiped the dust from her eyes and her vision cleared she saw what pinned her to the ground; an unconscious Scrooge. Then it occurred to her what had happened; in the moments before impact Scrooge had protected her, shielded her from the blast. Magica pulled herself out from under him and gently nudged his shoulder. "Scrooge?" Nothing. She tried twice more but there was no response from him. She looked at him, thoughts of their rivalry, all the time they'd spent together recently, of everything ending here; filling her mind and her eyes began to sting with hot tears.

She looked toward Poe who was finally beginning to wake up but still looked dazed, the amulet sat just inches away from him and Haguk, having been completely shoved out was now completely vulnerable. This had to be finished now or never, she couldn't just let everything Scrooge had done to get to this point be in vain because if she did she would lose more than just her magic.

Shakily, she got to feet and made a break for the amulet; running as fast as her bruised legs would carry her until she reached it and picked it up. In glowed with that soft turquoise light as she held it in her quivering hand.

"I bind this evil never to return and undo all wrong it has done!" She chanted, holding up the amulet. "You can't do a thing without your power and when I finally retake this vessel I'll destroy you once and for all!" Haguk's spectral voice roared. "I BIND THIS EVIL NEVER TO RETURN AND UNDO ALL WRONG IT HAS DONE!" She repeated her chant louder, desperately trying to cast her spell.

As she continued to repeat the chant everyone turned back to watch as she desperately tried to use the amulet. "What is she thinking? She can't use any magic!" Hexa cried. "She's lost it…" Castandra said sadly. "Why isn't Uncle Scrooge getting up?" Dewey asked nervously. Nobody answered. They watched as Magica kept repeating her chant until something incredible happened.

The turquoise glow became brighter and slowly enveloped Magica, causing her body to glow softly with the turquoise light. "What is this?" Haguk shuddered as he felt a strong magical power coming from her. Magica felt a surge power like she'd never felt before and channeled all of it into her chant. "I bind this evil never to return and undo are wrong it has done!" With that last chant magical energy, glowing with the turquoise light, enshrouded Haguk's spirit and sealed him back inside the medallion; then the whole room was enveloped in the soft turquoise glow.

When everyone awoke, no longer were they in a tower or in cages, but they now were all lying on the piles of money inside Scrooge's bin.

Glomgold, after coming to and realizing he was free, decided to make a run for it before anyone took notice of him and tried to seal him up for causing all the chaos.

The other DeSpells could feel their magic returning to them as they stood; when Poe got up, took Haguk's medallion in hand and used a spell to disintegrate it so he would never be released again.

Magica sat up, and saw that the bin was restored and everyone was now freed; and safe. They were all safe again. She slowly got to her feet, feeling hands gently help her up. "You okay sis?" Poe's gentle voice asked. "Yes, I'm alright." She said as he let go. "Dad!" Lena rushed over, wrapping her father in a crushing bear hug. "Oh, Dad I'm so glad you're okay!" "I'm glad _you're_ okay Lena!" Poe reciprocated his daughter's hug. "Oh, it feels wonderful to be able to hug you again!"

Magica smiled as she watched her brother and niece before turning to Scrooge who now slowly sat up. "Scrooge!" She gasped as she knelt beside him. "What happened?" He asked. "I did it. I sealed Haguk again." She explained. Scrooge could see her eyes getting teary. "That's twice now you know." He said with a smirk. "Twice what?" She asked. "Twice you've been so worried about me, sneaky witch." "Oh, shut up you fool." She couldn't help a slight giggle and a smile as relief washed over both of them at the knowledge that was right with the world again. Until they heard a pair of sheepish voices addressing them.

"Uh, Scrooge?" "Magi-p- ah, Magica?" Scrooge and Magica turned to see Brigitta and Rosolio standing behind them, guilty looks on their faces. "Yes?" They asked curiously in unison. "Scrooge I just wanted to apologize my role in this mess. I'm so sorry I reacted the way I did and caused so much trouble." Brigitta said. Rosolio nodded. "Me as well. I really am an idiot; you have every right to be angry with me, even to hate me, both of you do." "Oh, my word…" Magica said in shock. "You ACTUALLY acknowledge your stupidity! You're smarter than I ever gave you credit for Rosolio." She laughed as he turned red, out of embarrassment this time.

Once Magica stopped laughing she and Scrooge looked at each other and turned away from Brigitta and Rosolio, pretending they had to discuss whether or not to accept their apologies. After making them sweat for a minute they turned back to them, both smiling. "You're forgiven." They said together. Rosolio and Brigitta breathed a sigh of relief, then Magica added, "Just don't you EVER do something like that again Rosolio or I really WILL turn you into a toad." "Of course, I won't! You think that was any fun for me?" Rosolio whined. "I'm starting to believe you do have a brain after all." Magica chuckled.

Brigitta and Rosolio felt more at ease seeing that nobody was angry with them and decided they need to get the last of their thoughts off their minds. "Scrooge, there's one more thing I need to say." Brigitta began. "Me too," Rosolio chimed. "I can see you two are very well suited to each other so I must also apologize for my jealousy and offer my sincerest congratulations to the both of you." "Yes, I can see it too; and like I said before, I won't fight it anymore. If this what truly makes you happy Magi-poo then I'm happy too." Rosolio smiled, a bit half-heartedly, as he tried to be happy for the couple.

The smiles fell instantly from Scrooge and Magica's faces, they had totally forgotten about the false engagement until that moment. Despite whatever had or was going on between them recently it still wasn't the time to be dealing with all this engagement nonsense and Scrooge decided to put it rest once and for all. "Look here," He started, "Nobody is marrying anybody and that's that!" Now Rosolio and Brigitta looked so confused. Scrooge sighed. "I never actually said I was marrying anyone, you misunderstood my words and duped yourself Brigitta." He explained, keeping his voice soft and gentle. Magica sighed. "And I lied to you Rosolio; because I really _don't_ want to marry you, and you just jumped to conclusions and snowballed everything."

Rosolio and Brigitta took a moment to let it all sink in. "So, you two aren't getting married?" Brigitta asked for confirmation. "No." They both answered. "And it was all one big misunderstanding?" Scrooge and Magica nodded. "So, then I still have a chance with you Lammiekins?" Brigitta's eyes lit up. "You forgave me and I can forgive you for lying Il mio amore, so now that all is understood we can start over?"

Horror filled Scrooge and Magica's faces as they realized things truly were going back to normal. "Uh… You, know what, I think I left a cauldron going on Mt. Vesuvius!" Magica whistled for her broom and jumped on it. "Uh, ah, oh, not again… Magica wait for me!" Scrooge cried as he jumped on the broom behind her and off they flew; leaving everyone dying of laughter.


	13. Epilogue

Scrooge sat at his desk in his home office, flipping and spinning his old number one between his fingers.

It had been a little over a month since the chaos of the pretend engagement and Haguk's appearance and things had returned to normal with some small exceptions like Poe living in Magica's Duckburg manor with Lena.

Magica herself had returned to her hut on Mt. Vesuvius as quickly as possible after Haguk was dealt with, although not before leaving old number one on the desk Scrooge now sat behind. Scrooge honestly couldn't tell whether or not to be surprised by the return of his dime. On one hand it was the perfect opportunity for Magica to make off with the dime but on the other she _did_ alter the amulet so the dime could be removed when he asked if he'd be able to get it back after defeating Haguk.

Scrooge found himself thinking about Magica as he looked at his dime; the whole experience had brought about, no, unearthed feelings that, if Scrooge was honest with himself, he had known were there for a long time and as he went over his plans for his next excursion with his nephews, thoughts of someday having another shared adventure with Magica brought a smile to his face.


End file.
